Fairy Tail: Books of Darkness
by Chilledoutcat
Summary: Natsu was lost and confused, he didn't know what to do and every day he felt more and more alone. His friends could see him drifting further into the darkness and they felt helpless. War was approaching. **SPOILER WARNING** (originally written after the publication of Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail - Chapter 436 'Memoirs')
1. Conflict 1

**Book 1: Conflict**

* * *

IIt's been about a month since the Avatar deal and the group had been back in Magnolia for about 3 weeks, but the past few weeks have been a mess.

They came to Magnolia for answers.  
They got answers.  
But, not the sort they'd expect. It was the sort that sent Natsu into an endless cycle of quietness, sickness and sleep. His mind was a mess and the others weren't too sure how to handle this new found information. What was more, this _information_ was found in a book left by Makarov in the guilds library. The guild hadn't been active in a year, yet the townspeople rebuilt it kept it in good shape with the hope that Fairy Tail would be back.

All this time the old man _knew.  
_ They found themselves at a crossroads. Well Erza, Gray, Juvia and Lucy did. They'd only been back a few hours and the years training they all did, was dissipated by a few written words.  
Wendy and the others didn't know, since they got back, Wendy and Carla decided to visit Porlyusica, Happy tagged along with them. Wendy wanted to develop her knowledge on medicine, since she'd begun to learn that no matter how well she developed her magic. Magic wouldn't fix everything.

* * *

They ventured towards the guild hall. It was strange to see it so empty.  
And quiet.  
"Why are we here again?" Natsu groaned. After the long journey, food was clearly at the top of his agenda.  
"Jeez, you never listen do you" Gray rolled his eyes, it may have been a year, but there are some things that will never change.  
At least for now.  
"We're here to see if the guild has any books that will help us. I mean it had some on E.N.D and we didn't really look hard then. From what I hear despite the destruction our guild faced, most of the books were salvaged. So who knows" replied Lucy.  
Lucy was happy, even though they'd taken a break from gathering up the others and jumped ahead to do some research on Zeref and E.N.D, she was happy to be back in Magnolia with the team. However a lingering sadness dwelled within her that had developed the past year, it'd become a dark void within her soul. She just hoped the others would soon return with them.

They entered the library and began to search. Like old times, Natsu and Gray easily distracted themselves and started fighting, unsurprisingly Erza intervened and the search started again. On the bottom shelf Natsu encountered an old rugged book. It was odd since the other books surrounding it seemed new and quite colourful. There was something about this dusty grey book that caused Natsu to pick it up. After examining the outside of the book for a while, a note eventually fell out. He recognised the handwriting to be Makarov's. He picked up the note and much to his surprise it seemed the old man had in fact written it to him. It proceeded to say;

 _Natsu,_

 _When you joined the guild I told you about what Mavis believed, 'Do fairies have tails? Do they even exist? Nobody knows for sure. So this guild is like them, an eternal mystery. An eternal adventure'_

 _I wanted you to find a family in the guild, being abandoned isn't easy. I could see it was difficult at first, but you saw it eventually. That family. Of course, there is something I know, something about you that may change this. You brats have all grown so much._

 _I wish for you all to remember what a family is. It's not blood. I've seen for myself that our blood ties don't define who we are. You've shown me that, Natsu. Family is a bond, one that never goes away. You can never forget that. None of you can ever forget that._

 _I never wanted this day to come, but the moment I decided to disband the guild I knew it'd come round eventually, that you would be stood here now reading this. That taking you in carried more responsibility than simply taking in an orphaned child. When you read the contents of this, remember Fairy Tail._

 _Remember your family._

 _Makarov_

This note startled Natsu, _what the hell was the old man talking about?_ Of course he knows who his family is. And yes that included the ice princess. It worried him, causing him to hesitate when opening the book.  
It was there. On the first page in the top left hand corner. Suddenly Natsu pieced everything together so quickly his head started to hurt. This couldn't be right. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Natsu flicked through the pages.  
It wasn't a coincidence.  
This was him. This was Natsu. Natsu Dragneel. Well, according to the book a reincarnation of Natsu Dragneel.  
 _E.N.D._

The others were too busy flicking through various books to notice, but eventually Gray noticed Natsu trembling.  
"Have you read too many big words that your head has turned to mush?" Gray looked at him with a concerned look as he begun to realize that Natsu looked pale.  
Something was wrong.  
"Natsu?" Gray walked towards him. It was now that the others noticed.  
Natsu just stared at the book trembling in fear. It was there in ink. Words that had been written over 400 years ago…  
 _Zeref Dragneel.  
_ "Natsu-san are you okay?" Juvia asked.  
He managed to let out a small mutter, 'Don't kill me.'  
Gray saw the letter and begun to read it having already noted that it was written by the old man.  
The others read it too.  
"What does he mean by that? Natsu do you know what he's talking about?" Asked Erza.  
He didn't seem to acknowledge their presence anymore and just looked at the bookshelf with an empty glare, eventually collapsing to the ground. He was trembling so much he couldn't even stand anymore. This wasn't Natsu. Not at all. Lucy walked over and kneeled down next to him. She placed her hand on his shoulder to reassure him. But, he was past that. He felt alone in a dark room. Not even Lucy could get him out of this dark hole.  
"Why is Zeref my brother" Natsu's voice became a whisper. His breathing became heavy before suddenly fainting. It was normal for Natsu to be warm, but at this very moment it was quite obvious he shouldn't be this warm.  
"That fucker, he lied. He said he was _going_ to bring more despair. But, he'd already given it. It was there from the beginning." Gray was conflicted. Natsu was a brother to him, but it seems he was one to Zeref too.  
Gray couldn't accept this so easily, but he couldn't ignore his promise to his father which was to destroy E.N.D. Natsu could be a monster a times, yet was no demon and he was certainly not even close to being like Zeref. Gray clenched his fist, he was frustrated, angry, but not at Natsu.

Everything had suddenly become a mess. Gray didn't know what else to do other than to approach the feverish Natsu and use his ice magic to cool him down. He carefully picked him up. Natsu was lighter than he imagined. It was sort of strange, since the ice mage was so used to beating the crap out of him (as well as having the crap beaten out of him too) and yet, despite Natsu somehow being the life Gray had set a goal on destroying, he couldn't, it was the same with his father.  
He couldn't kill family.  
"Gray-sama where are you taking him?" Juvia was slightly concerned. She knew how hard Gray had trained and knew why he had done so. Which is why she was worried of what Gray may do to Natsu. Everyone was. Gray's goal wasn't exactly a secret.  
"I'm taking him to Porlyusica, this isn't something we should be blabbing about, but if gramps knows, then maybe she does too." He replied.  
No one really knew what else to do, Natsu was sick. This was Natsu, their Natsu, not some demon from Zeref's book and not Zeref's dead little brother. This was Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail and he needed them now to help him, like he's always helped them. That fact couldn't be ignored.

Gray could feel Natsu's heat as could Lucy who was stood right next to him, she wasn't leaving his side. He'd had begun to sweat and had gotten seriously pale, if they were going to do anything they had to be quick about it.  
She placed her hand on his forehead and frowned, "He's really burning up, we should hurry if we're going" Lucy thought how this wasn't Natsu burning up in an 'I'm all fired up' sort of way. The thought saddened her.  
"I'll stay behind, we don't all need to go and if that book was here then the master may have other things too" Erza was worried, but she was right in that they didn't all need to go and she wanted more answer's. What they had was a 'breakthrough' of sorts, certainly nothing good, but something and she wasn't satisfied with that fact that the master knew of this fact the entire time. _Was Fairy Tail a guild of light? Or is the concept of light and dark not quite as simple as what we've always been taught?  
_ "Juvia will stay too. Juvia is worried about Natsu-san. But Erza-san has a point, there may be other things. Look after Natsu-san, Gray-sama" She gave a small smile. Seeing Gray hold Natsu with such a worried look, reassured her that Gray would protect Natsu, she saw the same as most. They are brothers.

* * *

Gray carried Natsu to Porlyusica's with Lucy. They approached the house. Wendy with her excellent hearing heard them and most likely heard Natsu's heavy breathing and distress, the blue haired girl startled to see the fire mage in such a state came running towards them.  
"You guys! What happened?" She approached them. From only few feet away she could feel the heat coming off of Natsu.  
The old woman trailed behind the small girl, followed with Happy and Carla. Happy's wings suddenly drooped down as he lowered to the ground. He didn't what he saw. The most Natsu is ever sick is from travelling or because he'd been reckless and ate something he shouldn't have. Either way there'd be hope he'd recover. But this was uncharted territory.  
"Bring him inside" Porlyusica looked away and proceeded to walk back into her house. They looked at her. She knew.

Gray laid Natsu on the bed. Natsu had suddenly become this fragile being to him. He used his magic again to cool him down, it didn't do much. Yet he'd like to think it made him feel a little better, even just for a moment.  
"When Wendy told me you had gone to the guild, I was wondering how long it would be before you came here. I was hoping to never have this conversation, but that damned old fool decided to leave." She'd begun to mix up some herbs. Gray and Lucy didn't take their eyes off Natsu, even for him this temperature was far from good.  
"I don't understand what's going on? Why is Natsu suddenly sick? What conversation? What happened?" demanded Carla.  
The old woman sighed, "How much have you learnt of Zeref?" she looked at Gray and Lucy.  
Gray looked down at the fire mage, "Enough. Enough to make sense of things" he never imagined Natsu in such a mess, but he didn't blame him.  
Lucy had a small cloth dipped in cold water and gently placed it on his forehead and held his hand to reassure him they hadn't abandoned him. Wendy didn't know what was going on, but figured she'd soon find out. In the meantime the girl used her healing magic to try and calm him down.  
Unfortunately, it was the same with Juvia and her magic wasn't having much affect. Whatever happened Wendy had already figured that Natsu's sickness was spurred on by his mental state. Happy didn't understand either but, regardless of the heat, snuggled into Natsu's side and closed his eyes before he began to cry at the distress.

After a while Gray spoke, "Before I left to go visit my hometown I went to see him, to make sure he was alright. Ever since he'd joined the guild his goal was to find Igneel. Now that was gone. What's more is that dragon king bastard finished him for good. Igneel didn't get to go peacefully like the others and Natsu didn't get that goodbye." He paused. "I spoke to him. As I expected, the idiot tried to play off the strong act. I guess from fighting him all the time I've got to know him pretty well and I definitely know when he's lying. We talked and he told me about something that happened on Tenrou island. He said that he met Zeref before the signal was given, he was with Elfman, Evergreen and Happy. He said that Zeref saw him and cried followed by saying _how he'd grown_." He stopped trying to make sense of things in his head. It sounded strange when Natsu told him, more so now he was saying those words himself.  
Lucy looked up, "H-he what? Why hasn't this been mentioned before?" this seemed like a pretty big deal. _How was this overlooked?  
_ "He said that Zeref also used his magic. But Natsu's scarf seemed to absorb the magic, turning it black and later Wendy fixed that." He continued.  
Wendy interrupted, "Huh? I fixed it? I don't remember doing that" she looked at Gray confused.  
"That's why Natsu never mentioned it. He said that he asked Happy about it after we got back to Magnolia. But Happy replied saying he had no idea what he was talking about. He then asked Evergreen knowing she couldn't have forgotten either, yet she had no clue either. So, Natsu being Natsu decided to ignore it."  
Porlyusica, having decided she'd heard enough, walked over to Natsu and proceeded to give him some medicine to calm his fever. He was still sweating, however, his breathing seemed have normalized. Hopefully the medicine would do its job and bring his temperature down.  
Gray continued, "He said that he'd completely forgotten about it, but then when he was on his own in Tartaros, just before he met with Lucy and Happy, he said everything around him froze and Zeref was suddenly in front of him. Zeref told him that Igneel wouldn't defeat E.N.D and that only he or E.N.D would be able to stop Zeref and he left just as swiftly as he appeared. Natsu said that he never dwelled on it because of everything going on, but then Zeref showed up again his last words were, 'If you somehow manage to make it through this desperate situation, then _I shall give you more despair…_ '" Gray stopped. Those words echoed in his head.  
Porlyusica looked up at Gray, "So what will you do? You promised your father you would destroy E.N.D. I presume you spent the past months training and finding information for that moment. If you continue that wish then you needn't fight him.' She looked down at the sick boy. That being said, I doubt Zeref would allow you to kill Natsu so easily." Wendy, Carla and Happy looked in shock.  
"Porlyusica-san what are you saying! Why"- Wendy looked at Natsu, she'd already grasped what she was implying to Gray. Happy brushed the statement off, he was startled, but Natsu was Natsu and Natsu was his best friend, nothing would change that.  
Lucy stood up, "This is absurd! Gray you aren't seri-" he cut her off.  
"No, I'm not. I couldn't do that, you should know that. He needs us right now." he looked at her calmly as a way to reassure her.  
Lucy sat back down next to the bed and continued to try and calm Natsu's fever down. The medicine was working, although he was still in much distress.

Then a sudden realization went in Gray's eyes, "The R-system, Eclipse project, they were for him. Zeref conjured them up for Natsu. It was clear Zeref wanted his brother back." This made Gray angry, Zeref had conjured up these demons which was stated as beings he wanted to end his life. He'd then resorted this method to revive his own brother.  
"It seems like he killed two birds with one stone, he create a demon that could possibly kill him and he got his brother back. But, the dead can't be revived, I'm guessing the price was the curse or something else regarding Natsu's state" Lucy protested.  
They didn't really know what to think of it. Trying to place this together was painful, they couldn't accept that Natsu had in fact died and was no longer human. Natsu was here, breathing and he even went away to train so he could protect them.  
Natsu was a member of Fairy Tail. He was family. Zeref wasn't taking that away from them.


	2. Conflict 2

It had been a week since the group had been in Magnolia. Which consisted of a pale Natsu drifting in and out of sleep and the group trying to wrap their heads around this new tale. Erza and Juvia spent most of the time at the guild searching through books and past records of the guild.  
Erza wasn't satisfied with the Master's letter as well as his state of absence. Porlyusica honestly stated what she could, which was that she could never tell what was going on in the 'old fools' mind, and didn't know anything that would help them progress in their search.  
Lucy helped too, but not much. She was too worried about Natsu's state. However, Porlyusica kicked her out continuously declaring that, 'seeing you worry only makes him sicker' and that there wasn't anything she could do. Wendy and the old woman were already doing their best. Of course she still stopped by everyday for a few hours, just holding his hand and stroking his head telling him she's still here with him. She didn't feel so bad leaving him since she knew Wendy and Carla were there as well as Happy who also wasn't leaving his side.

Gray spent a lot of time on his own trying to adapt to this situation. He had made a promise to his father. Yet killing Natsu wasn't an option. What's more is E.N.D is supposed to be this destructive evil demon of a Book of Zeref. Not this pink haired flame-brain who has become a brother of sorts to Gray during his time at the guild.  
"I'd wondered where you'd gone off to, it would be nice of you to help us" A voice came from him. Gray turned around, it was Erza.  
"E-Erza? Sorry." he looked down in dismay. She wasn't angry with him. Gray may have the promise to keep, but they all faced the same problem in some sort of way. So she expected this response.  
"I know what you've been thinking Gray. I know you can't give up on your promise. Natsu would tell you that.' As she said that Gray even imagined those words in Natsu's voice, even making him smile a little.  
'We've been through a lot together. Shared so many memories. We've laughed and cried. We've fought and soared together. This isn't going to disappear now, it can't. We're family and always will be. That's the Fairy Tail way." She sat down next to him in front of the small stream that runs through Magnolia, looking at the distant sunset.  
Gray's smile faded, "Erza I don't know what to do. I promised my dad, E.N.D is supposed to be evil, he's supposed to be Zeref's strongest demon and nothing else. Not his brother. Not Nat-" He broke off, he couldn't even carry on as tears begun to stream down his face. He curled up, burying his face into his knees. "Why. Why did this have to happen? We've grown up with him and we've always had each other's backs…" He looked up.  
Erza looked at him and smiled, "And we still will. Natsu has saved us more times than I can think of and he's always tried to see the best in people and tried to save them. I want to do the same for him. He's scared and confused. I wouldn't be surprised if he's become afraid of us. Of what we may do. But, I want to tell him that it's our turn to protect him. To save _him_." She placed her hand on Gray's shoulder.  
Gray wiped away his tears, he felt pathetic for crying in the first place, "I guess you're right, but if I can then I will destroy that book. I'm worried that it may affect Natsu in some way though. Making matters worse, but it may also take it all away. Destroying it may mean Natsu will never have to face that pain. I'm not going to let him."

He was always so cool headed and he knew that the pyro would never let go that Gray cried because of him, but he tried to look at things differently.  
He stood up, "Right now he needs us to look after him. He's always been strong, but right now he isn't. Which is okay, because we're still here with him. I don't mind doing that, since I know he'll come back strong again. It's Natsu after all, he's always been optimistic. I've always envied that about him." He looked at Erza and smiled.  
They both knew it was going to be a long and hard road ahead getting Natsu back on track. Eventually having to face destroying Zeref and ending this war once and for all. What's more is that one thing they have learnt from all this is that E.N.D did exist 400 years ago. Zeref didn't simply create (or revive) Natsu and seal him away. He lived and was active for a long time.  
This would mean that Natsu had memories from that time and they weren't going to be happy, after all anything they had heard about E.N.D, (which in the grand scheme of things wasn't much) was far from _good_. This became _'we'll cross that bridge when we come to it'_ issue amongst many other issue's they had.

* * *

Natsu jumped up in a panic, startling Porlyusica, Wendy and Carla. Happy hadn't slept much so the sudden movement didn't disturb him. He was still pale and feverish, although the medicine and Wendy's magic had balanced it out. The rest came down to Natsu's own immune system and mentality, both of which were broken.  
"W-where am I?" He was shaking both from the fever and fear. He'd been awake before but he was dazed and asleep after a few seconds. This was the most active he'd been all week.  
"Natsu-san you're at Porlyusica's house, you're sick. Don't you remember anything?" He looked at Wendy and begun to calm down a bit. I _t was just a dream_. Even though, he couldn't help but notice how tired the young mage looked.  
"O-oh, yeah. Sorry." He looked down to see Happy who remained asleep.  
"Why are you apologising?" Said Carla in her _'you're an idiot'_ sort of way, which amused him a little. The tone reassured him giving him some sort of normality.  
"Nevermind" his head was starting to hurt again. He'd started to acknowledge the fever and suddenly felt cold, causing him to shake again.  
Porlyusica walked over and gave him some more medicine. Now he was awake she believed that it should do a better job now. Wendy had begun to use her magic again, having noticed that Natsu started shaking from the fever again, but the old woman stopped her.  
"You don't need to do that, the medicine should be enough. You're tired and need to rest." She looked over at Natsu, who didn't dare look her in the eye out of fear, "It seems that despite being a fire dragon slayer even you can still get a fever."  
Natsu dismayed at the mention of _fire dragon_. That wasn't what he was, she knows that so why doesn't she just call him a demon. That's what he was wasn't he, _a demon_ , that itself was a sin, but _Zeref's brother_ , well, that was a whole other tale.  
"I want you two to go to the others and help them if you won't insist on getting some sleep. Provided you do sleep at some point." They lingered, "Now go!" She was getting ready to grab her broom and throw them out. The old hag hadn't changed. Wendy and Carla soon left before being hit by a broom that proved that Porlyusica was a Fairy Tail member after all. It hurt.  
"Why did you say that?" Natsu asked still shaking slightly.  
She ignored his question, "Get some rest, you'll need it." she knew what he meant by it.  
Natsu looked down at Happy again. He could tell from looking at him he hadn't slept much. Natsu knew since when Happy was little, he would sometimes get nightmares. The blue exceed wouldn't sleep until Natsu was able to find a way to reassure him that he'd beat the crap out of any monsters that tried to hurt him. Yet, now it seemed he _was_ the monster.  
"I know what you're thinking. I can't tell you anything you haven't already read in that book. I don't know where the fool is and I didn't always know. Makarov told me shortly after you left. I always knew there was something, since I found it odd that your first memory was finding Igneel in some woods. But, I trusted the old fool's judgement and never pried further." She went to check his temperature again. It seemed to be easing down.  
"Okay" Natsu whimpered. It sounded nothing like him.  
He didn't know what else to say. He went from being a fire dragon slayer, Fairy Tail mage who was born somewhere in this era. To then being about 400 years old, Zeref's revived brother, and a fire demon.  
Worst of all he was afraid of what Gray had decided. His father's promise was more important than him right? He wouldn't be angry. Actually he'd probably let Gray kill him. Even if it meant he wouldn't kill Zeref. He isn't supposed to be here anyway.  
He lay down, pulling the sheets back over him and burrowed under them. Then rolled over facing away from the old woman, curling up and closing his eyes, trying to stop his tears and hide away from the world.  
"Natsu, they're still with you." She could see his pain and was hoping that he was listening.  
He wasn't.

* * *

Gray decided to pay Natsu a visit. It suddenly dawned on him what a terrible friend he was. The fact that he even had a conflict between Natsu and his father's promise made him feel pathetic. Natsu was family. He wanted to keep his father's promise, but Gray had a limit and he wanted to show his father he'd grown to be his own person with his own morals. He had to show his father that Natsu is family no matter what and he was going to have to break his promise. Natsu was the promise keeper anyway. Natsu was the one who was willingly going to stand against Deliora and he knows that had the demon not fallen apart due to Ul's magic then Natsu would have fought till the end regardless. Gray owed him for that.  
What's more, Natsu told Gray what Rogue from the future told him about Frosch. It made sense why Natsu jumped to the conclusion that Gray was possessed and not just simply acting. Gray knew Natsu can be stupid but he also knows that Natsu knows and understands more than he lets on. Despite everything Natsu still believes in him and that fact made Gray feel worse about not knowing what do to about E.N.D. Of course he _knew_ what he should do, he believed in Natsu and he was going to have his back.  
Erza stood up, "So you know what to do then?" she asked.  
"Well obviously. Natsu is an idiot and Zeref is clearly stupid too, making that idiot a demon with the job to kill him, because clearly his isn't going to fail. What he also doesn't realize is that idiot has a family who will back him up no matter what." Gray was beginning to sound like himself again which made Erza smile.  
He was distracted by the sound of footsteps, "Wendy?" Gray turned around to see the sky mage and a white exceed walking. She looked tired and sad.  
She saw the two mages stood by the river side, "Erza-san, Gray-san, I thought you would have been at the guild?" She asked walking towards them.  
"We were taking a break. Aren't you helping Porlyusica?" Erza responded.  
"I was, but Natsu-san woke up and she told me to go and get some rest, since I don't need to use my magic on him anymore. She said the medicine would be enough now."  
"He's awake?" asked Erza.  
"Yeah." She looked down at her feet.  
"If he's awake isn't that a good thing? What's wrong Wendy?" Gray hadn't ignored her detached response.  
"I think he had a nightmare." She frowned, "I wasn't expecting Natsu-san to be himself exactly, but… he seemed so scared. Natsu-san is strong and always smiling…" She'd begun to cry, "I always like seeing Natsu-san smile. It makes me happy, because. Because, it lets me know everything's going to be okay. But, now I don't know if I'll get to see that again. I don't know if everything's okay anymore." she fell to her knee's it seemed crying completely exhausted her already exhausted state.  
Gray knelt down to her and hugged her, "Don't worry. You'll see him smile again, because everything will be okay. I promise." Saying this made Gray realize how much of Natsu had rubbed off on him which amused him slightly. Carla had noted the same thought and smiled.  
Erza knelt the other side of her, "Wendy? How about we take you to the guild and you can get some sleep." Since they were spending so much time at the guild and the only one who still had a place in magnolia was Natsu and Happy, they had to use the guild for housing.  
Wendy, having settled down, had already begun to drift off in Gray's arms. Erza picked her up and carried her back to the guild.  
"Are you coming Gray?" She asked, she wasn't worried about waking Wendy up since she was so tired.  
"I'm going to Porlyusica's to go see if Natsu is okay and tell him he's an idiot for making Wendy cry." He then turned and headed towards the house.

As he approached the house, he'd begun to feel uneasy. One reason was because the old hag might beat him with a broom for either not coming sooner. Or having come in the first place.  
The second reason was because Natsu was awake, which meant he and Natsu would have to talk. Natsu knew that Gray intended to destroy E.N.D and Gray having not visited yet, would have probably made it a little concerning for Natsu. Gray was worried on what Natsu would be like around him. Something would have changed that was a given.

Gray remained open-minded as he opened the door, but he honestly didn't know what to expect.  
"P-Porlyusica?" He was imagining a broom to come towards his way any second now.  
"Hm. I'd begun to wonder where you'd gone. I take it you've cleared your head now." She responded. No broom in hand.  
"I guess." The whole concept was messed up. Gray had decided to stand by Natsu no matter what. However, he wouldn't really say he's cleared his head. The tale would still take some time getting his head around.  
He looked at the bed where Natsu and sleeping and saw a small ruff of pink hair sprouting out from the sheets. He could tell Natsu was asleep. If he hadn't of been something would have happened by now.  
"He's been like that for the past hour, but I think he fell asleep a while ago. His temperature is next to normal now. Well, Natsu's state of normal anyway." She gave a sad smile, which surprised Gray as he'd never seen her like this before. Maybe spending so much time with people had begun to affect her.  
"Wendy said he wasn't himself, so I didn't know what to expect." He walked towards the bed and pulled the bed sheets just enough to see his pale face.  
"Happy was here too. He woke up a while ago and I told him to go help the others at the guild as I wanted to speak to Natsu. Not that he'd listen." She'd begun to pack a bag.  
"Err, what are you doing?" Gray had noticed.  
"I've used up nearly all my herbs with Natsu's medicine and I need to get some more. Unfortunately the herbs I need aren't sold in Magnolia. I'll need to go to the next town over. I want you to keep an eye on him." This was half true. She still had some more and didn't need to leave at this very moment. But, it was a convenience since the medicine had done its job, the only ones who could help Natsu now was his friends.  
Gray froze, "Eh? R-right now. But…but, I can't-"  
"There's nothing more I can do. When he wakes up again, take him to the guild and make sure he gets plenty of rest. I'm not fond of people." She hadn't changed after all, "I'll be 3 days." She picked up the bag and before Gray had a chance to react she'd gone.  
He looked back to Natsu who was sound asleep. He didn't really know what to do but he couldn't leave him. But what would he do if Natsu woke up. What does he say? He looked at him and suddenly Natsu wasn't Natsu anymore. He was this fragile, frightened and sick person who Gray needed to look out for.  
Suddenly, Natsu twitched and started breathing heavily. Gray jumped at the sudden movement and was worried he'd woke him up. But, he was still asleep. He'd started to whisper something.  
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Make it stop…"  
Gray was startled, "N-Natsu?" he could tell he must have started dreaming. Natsu had begun to sweat and he'd gripped tightly onto the bed sheets.  
"It wont go away. Make it go away. It hurts…" his voice was a whisper, he looked in pain.  
Gray didn't want him to wake up. He was sleeping. Yet, it wasn't clearly a good thing right now. Gray placed his hand on Natsu's arm and shook him lightly.  
"Natsu, wake up. It's just a dream…" It wasn't the first time Gray had witnessed Natsu have nightmares.

There was the time after they thought Lisanna had died. Gray had found himself looking after Natsu for a few days. He looked like hell from lack of sleep and Happy didn't know what to do.  
There was also the confusing time after leaving Crocus. Natsu kept having nightmares about Lucy dying, he still has no idea what brought it all about. Lucy was alive and she didn't have any serious injuries and he hadn't heard anything about any close shaves. Unless she did die but because of Ultear's spell it was averted, just like him. It was mainly Lucy who took care of him then. However, because of job requests he did find himself in the position of calming him down in the middle of the night. It was odd to see Natsu so frightened, especially over a dream.  
Natsu suddenly sprung up covered in sweat and buried his face into the palms of his hands.  
"Ah! I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so-" He'd begun to tremble.  
"Natsu, calm down. It was just a dream." Gray tried to grab his attention.  
Natsu looked up and then it dawned on him that Gray was in front of him. His heartbeat went a mile a minute, _is he going to kill me?_ He jolted back against the wall and then felt a cold hand wrapped tightly around his wrist.  
"Natsu if you're thinking what I think you're thinking, then I might just consider it for being a complete idiot" it was probably not the best statement to make, but he didn't know what else to do. He could see that Natsu wasn't even holding it together.  
"G-Gray?" tears were streaming down his face and he was still trembling with fear.  
In Natsu's eyes all he could see was Gray,  
and blood.  
"Gray" He let out a whimper before suddenly falling exhaustively into Gray.  
"Natsu? H-hey. Calm down, everything's okay." Gray didn't know what else to do other than to wrap his arms around him, to reassure him it was safe. He could feel that Natsu was warm. Too warm. He breathing became rash.  
"I'm sorry" Natsu whispered. Gray was slightly confused, he had no ideas what he was sorry about, but he got the impression Natsu wasn't really talking to him.  
"What are you sorry for?" Gray had never worried so much about him before. The situation felt extremely out of place.  
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Natsu tugged on Gray's shirt "There's so much…I'm sorry…" Tears continued to fall down his face.  
"Eh? What are you talking about? So much what?" As soon as he asked, Gray already felt like he didn't want to know the answer. It seemed to him that Natsu was so tired that whatever he saw in his dream, he was seeing now.  
"B _lood"_ Natsu's voice was quiet, but Gray managed to catch on what he said.  
"N-Natsu. There's no blood. It was just a dream. It's okay, there's no blood. Everything's going to be okay." Gray found himself hugging him tightly, in hope Natsu was listening to him.  
"How about we get you cleaned up, okay?" Gray needed to distract him and considering he'd been covered in sweat for most of the week maybe a shower may be good right about now.  
He helped him up, when Natsu stood he nearly fell to the ground. He was so weak he couldn't even stand, so Gray helped him walk to the shower room. It would have been easier to carry him, but he thought that getting him to walk may help as difficult as it may be.  
Gray cleaned him up, it wasn't so weird. He, Natsu and Erza had baths together when they were kids (well Erza forced the notion, but they got used to it). Natsu had begun to calm down and was now apologising to Gray for being pathetic.  
"It's okay really. I'm just glad you've calmed down. I didn't know what to expect since I kinda haven't been to see you." Gray was just glad he was awake and beginning to sound like himself somewhat.  
"How long have I been out?" Natsu hadn't really thought about how long he'd been in this state for. Porlyusica probably told him be he hadn't listened to her, in fact the conversation with her hours before was just a blur to him.  
"A few days" It only felt like yesterday that they'd walked into Magnolia.  
"It's no big deal though, Wendy and Porlyusica have looked after you. I think Happy hasn't left your side, at least up until a while ago. I'm sure Lucy tried to help, but the old hag kicked her out because she was worrying too much." Gray smiled to try and reassure Natsu a little.  
"Oh…" Natsu felt guilty that he'd worried them all so much, "Where are they now?" he tried to move the subject along.  
"They're at the guild. Wendy is probably asleep though since she used up a lot of magic. They're trying to find as much info as possible on Zeref-" He stopped. Just as he said that name Natsu went completely white and started to break out in a cold sweat.  
Before Gray could react to the sudden change. Natsu jerked towards the nearby sink and begun to throw up. _Was it the thought Zeref that made him sick?  
_ Natsu was hunched over the sink. Considering he'd not eaten in a week Gray was surprised for how long he carried on like this. All Gray could do was gently rub his back and reassure him.  
"I think maybe I should get you some water" Gray left Natsu while he went to get him a glass of water, which was probably a means to an end, but he needed something.  
He'd actually done this before on more than one occasion, alcohol was a funny thing. The first occurrence was when Natsu got drunk for the first time as kids. Obviously Cana was to blame. Yet, it was still amusing, considering Gray's first drunken incident was a few months before and it was Natsu looking after him. He never lived that one down until Natsu was the one being sick.  
The second time was when Natsu had gotten drunk when Cana was trying figure out his true emotions towards Lucy. Considering he isn't much of a drinker, he can certainly hold his drink and even Cana had difficulty with that one and Natsu hated them all for allowing it to happen. It was amusing to hear Natsu talk about something in the regards of love because it made Gray (and the others) realize how innocent he really was at heart.  
 _Innocent._


	3. Conflict 3

Lucy, Erza and Juvia were in the guilds library. Wendy and the exceeds were asleep in the infirmary. They knew that Natsu had woken up. However, Gray had gone visit for the first time since Natsu fell ill. They figured it was best to leave the two of them for now and hope for the best. Or at least make sure they weren't trying to kill each other.  
Gray may have said that he wasn't going to kill Natsu. _But it was those two._ They would argue over of the stupidest things. As sick as Natsu may be, they were prepared for _anything_ , even if that meant stopping those two from fighting because of their idiocy.

"Gah! This is useless, there's nothing else here!" Lucy shook old rugged book that had sent Natsu to having a mid-life crisis.  
"There has to be something. The master couldn't have just left that and expected us to figure the rest out." _That being said he does like to challenge us._ "Or expected Natsu would suddenly remember everything the moment he saw it. He's not that much of a sadist." _Now isn't the time for games._ Erza was frustrated. They all were. Natsu was in a lot of pain, and they hadn't made any further advancement to solving an end to all of this.  
"Juvia believes we'll figure something out. We need to be patient. Then we will get our answers. Just maybe not right now. Maybe we should gather up the rest of the guild and work it out together." Juvia tried to remain optimistic. Yet she knew, like the others, this search for Zeref was pointless.  
"I-I don't know about that. More help would be good. But for them to help us we'd need to tell them _everything_." Lucy responded.  
"It's not telling them that I'm worried about. It's who's listening. If the master knew and now we know, who else could know. We killed the Tartarus members, but they had that lab that could revive them. I'm not convinced that Tartarus is truly gone. If we assume they aren't, or if there are others, how long would it take before they learn that Natsu is E.N.D?" Erza had a point, one they didn't want to hear.  
"But didn't Mira-san destroy that lab?" Asked Juvia.  
"She did, but I don't honestly believe that lab was the only one they had. With all the Zeref cult members there are. If they had the plans to the r-system and eclipse and we have a book on Nat-E.N.D's creation. Then it wouldn't surprise me if someone's replicated that lab. Either for the demons or trying to revive someone." Erza felt weird stating that Natsu was created or revived. As that would lead her to the realization that Natsu _had_ died. What's more is that she was beginning to create more problems with her over thinking.  
The notion could be true, it seemed logical. Yet the thought of having to face a reborn Tartarus with possibly new members and extremely pissed off old ones, wasn't something they wanted to think about. They may be stronger from the past year, but those demons would most likely be too and they barley scraped through the last time. If it wasn't for the dragons, Acnologia would have surely killed both them and the demons. But, the dragon era is now over. Next time could mean game over.  
What's more, the only member they could definitely confirm was 'dead' was Mard Geer the replacement guild master for E.N.D. That was because Zeref 'killed' him. So then they'd have to worry about who was the new master. As for the rest, they couldn't really confirm. The lab was in fact destroyed by Mira, _but did they really only have one?  
_ "Hmm. We can't lie." Lucy pondered "That's out of the question. More help would be good, but I don't know how they'd take it. And if we do tell, I don't think telling everyone would be a good idea. We should wait until Natsu is back on his feet first though." She was trying to think realistically as possible. It would be naïve to think that every Fairy Tail member was honest and noble.  
"Yeah, you're right. In the meantime we should do what we can. Although, we've been at this for a while, maybe we should take a break." Erza's idea of a break would naturally involve strawberry cake.  
"Juvia's going to see if Wendy-san is okay." She then placed down the book she was holding and went upstairs.

Lucy and Erza entered the bar. They had bought food and drink so they could use the kitchen to make something. Which they then just decided on cereal. It had gotten pretty late and they were too tired to cook. There isn't a window in the library so they hadn't noticed that it was dark out until now. In fact it was early morning. Just as they'd finished eating the main doors opened.  
It was Natsu and Gray.  
"Natsu!" Lucy shouted.  
She ran towards him. Much to his surprise she hugged him. He knew how much he'd worried them. He flinched with her grasp half expecting her to hit him.  
"Ah. S-sorry, I didn't mean to worry you so much." Natsu gave her his usual smile. Only she noticed it was slightly different, like he wasn't really happy.  
"I'm just glad you're okay." She could tell just by looking at him that he clearly wasn't okay. He was still pale and looked like he hadn't slept in days. His usual upward spike was over his face like the rest of his fringe and his eyes were all red with tiredness.  
Erza walked over and gave him her typical _'hug'_ , "It's nice to see you awake" Fortunately, she wasn't wearing her armour, so he wasn't going to end up with a headache that he'd just got rid of.  
"I wouldn't quite say I'm awake right now, but thanks" in fact, he was on the verge of falling over and sleeping on the cold hard floor he was that tired.

Juvia soon joined them with Wendy, Carla and Happy. Happy saw his pink haired friend and rapidly flew into his arms crying, "Don't scare me like that!" he shouted.  
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, it won't happen again I promise, so stop crying." He felt bad for making Happy cry. It wasn't like him, as well as Wendy (which Gray mentioned, although Gray also told him that it wasn't his fault). He still owed them. All of them. They were still here with him.  
"How about some food. I'm sure you're both hungry" Erza asked.  
The two of them looked at her blankly, they weren't hungry. Natsu had been sick, a lot, so he didn't have an appetite and Gray had to look which made him lose his appetite. However, they didn't want to turn down the offer. They felt like Erza wasn't really asking and they were getting food regardless. Their point was soon proven, as Erza had already gone into the kitchen before they could really answer, Juvia went to help.  
Natsu walked over to Wendy, he didn't mean to make her cry and he hated that he had done so, "Thank you Wendy, I really owe you…and sorry for earlier." She was confused at first, but then looked at Gray and realized that he must have said something.  
"Ah. Don't apologise, I was just tired that's all. I didn't really do much. It was mainly Porlyusica-san that helped you." She gave him a small smile. She was like a little sister to him. Having made her cry made him feel terrible, whether she was tried or not. He hugged her. To the others amusement it really did make them look like brother and sister.

"You know, you don't have to eat if you don't want to" Lucy protested. "You can go and get some sleep" she could tell that Natsu was struggling to stay awake.  
The walk wasn't far but for someone who had next to no energy right now, that small walk was all it took for him to be tired.  
He looked at her and gave a nervous smile, "Tell those two I'm sorry, but I'll have to pass on food right now. I don't really feel like eating right now." He then walked off to the infirmary.  
"Do you think he's going to be okay?" Wendy asked.  
Gray looked at her and smiled, "Don't worry about that idiot. He just needs some time. He knows we're here. I'm sure he'll be okay. Porlyusica said that we just need to keep an eye on him for a while."  
"Did something happen?" Lucy asked curiously.  
"Nothing in particular." _That was a lie._ "Other than Natsu throwing up a lot" He tried to forget. "Porlyusica decided that now was a good time to go to another village to buy some herbs, which I'm pretty sure she didn't need." He still wasn't so sure about eating, but he did start to feel hungry. "Don't worry though, he'll be okay."  
"Oh I see. That explains why you _both_ look so pale." Lucy giggled. "Maybe you should go lie down too." The thought of Gray looking after Natsu amused her. As well as Porlyusica just up and leaving so Gray could clear things up with Natsu. The old hag was cunning.  
"I'm glad you're amused. Nah, I'm good. I'm not so sure about food though. But, I am starting to feel a little hungry." He replied, feeling a little conflicted between his brain and stomach.  
"Then maybe food will help" Lucy had already eaten. She was tempted to go see if Natsu was okay, as shown by her constant action of looking towards the infirmary door every few seconds.  
"If you want to go see him then you should. I think he may have some trouble getting to sleep since he woke up from a nightmare earlier. It would be good if you're with him." Gray had noticed Lucy's glances towards the door.  
She didn't reply and walked towards the infirmary. As she left Juvia and Erza came in with food.  
"Where's Natsu and Lucy?" Erza asked. Juvia's face turned bright red at the thought of _those two_ alone together somewhere. Of course her mind had gone somewhere else. However, these days no one would be surprised if whatever Juvia pictured those two doing would be accurate. _They were close_.  
"They're in the infirmary. Flame brain was tired and Lucy wanted to keep an eye on him." Gray's response caused Juvia to nearly faint. God knows what she was thinking.  
"Maybe we should go to the infirmary too Gray-sama." Her head was gone. Gray was used to it now and simply brushed it off.  
"They lllllllikeee each other..." Happy rolled his tongue. This would usually be followed by a synchronized denial from Natsu and Lucy.  
They all sat at one of the tables and began to eat. The scene made Erza smile. Aside from Natsu and Lucy not being present, the situation as it stood felt _normal_. It made her think that there was still hope.

Lucy slowly entered the room. She didn't really know what she was doing. She just wanted her best friend back to his normal self. As she entered Natsu was sat on the bed. He had only just entered the room himself, so she didn't expect him to have been asleep just yet. Despite how tired he was.  
"Natsu?" She walked over to him and sat on the bed.  
"I'm sorry" he muttered.  
The blonde was confused, "You don't have to be sorry. You haven't done anything wrong." She looked at him concerningly, he looked like he was about to shatter.  
"I hurt you. I really didn't mean to. I'm sorry." She was beginning to realize what this conversation was about to become. The conversation that has nearly happened multiple times. But, for whatever reason it hadn't. Right now it didn't matter anymore.  
"What are you talking about?" She had an idea. However, she wanted to make sure before making a fool of herself. Natsu was a state. This isn't a conversation that should still be happening.  
"For leaving you alone. I didn't mean to, I- I thought you wou-"  
Lucy stopped him from finishing, "You thought I'd be what? Okay? Of course I wasn't okay. The guild was disbanded and everyone was gone in an instant. I get that you didn't know that part until recent. But. But all you left me was some half-assed note saying you were leaving fo-"  
"I'm sorry. I should have at least told you. I was scared that you would end up coming with me. I didn't even want Happy to come with me. I wanted to go alone." He stopped.  
Lucy saw something she'd never thought she see in Natsu.  
That determined look he'd always had was suddenly gone.  
Natsu's green eyes had turned dull and hollow. He's become an empty shell. One that was filled with cracks. Those cracks were showing more than ever now. Lucy could see it. He'd been fighting for so long that those cracks were increasing.  
Now he's finally breaking.  
"I didn't want you to see me as weak. After what happened. I-I…" Tears begun to flow down his face. He'd hit his limit and the tears became uncontrollable.  
"What are you talking about? I'd never see you as weak, is that seriously you excuse?" She knew she was being a bit too hard on him, but it had to be said regardless. However, the more she noticed him falling apart. The harder it became to be angry.  
"No-I-I…" He looked at her with tears flowing down his face, "It hurt…"  
It was then that she realized that she still managed to make a fool of herself. Gray had recently told her that Igneel didn't go like the others. The others still hurt. Nevertheless, they were given the satisfaction of a goodbye. Something that was taken from him. That was a pain she couldn't even begin to imagine.  
"Natsu..I'm-"  
"Don't, I was supposed to apologize to you." He's hesitated. "When I left the note in your apartment I saw Aquarius' broken key. I didn't realize what it was until later. I'm sorry. I was selfish. You'd lost something to. I hadn't forgotten that despite the relationship you two had. She was one of your mothers spirits too wasn't she?" He hadn't forgotten. Natsu never forgot anything Lucy said. He'd just like to screw with her sometimes. Yet, he'd always listen to her.  
"Ah!" She was startled by this. No matter what, she couldn't seem to conjure up any anger towards him. "It's okay. She's not dead, I just can't see her. Besides if it wasn't for her sacrificing herself. I wouldn't be here and neither would any of you guys." She didn't want to go into details, it still hurt just mentioning that much.  
Natsu didn't need her to say much more. It made sense how they got out of the Algeria spell and why he'd sensed to Celestial Spirit King. Lucy must have summoned him at the cost of Aquarius' key.  
"Luce, I'm really pathetic and I'm really sorry." He didn't know what else to say. "You've always stayed by me and I just left you. I'm sorry." He hugged her tightly hoping she wouldn't push him away.  
It was warm, a Natsu kinda warm. Of course, she wouldn't push him away, "It's okay, I forgive you. Ihope you forgive me too. I didn't mean to be so harsh. I was just scared that I'd never see you again. But, it's okay now. I know you're not leaving again, I trust you. I know that if you do. You will come back." She smiled, accepting his tight embrace.  
"Yeah. Cause it's always more fun when we're together, right?" He'd smiled. Whatever was to come it would be okay, because all his friends we're with him.  
"Yeah." She was happy to hear him sounding like the Natsu she knows. His stomach began to rumble which made Lucy laugh. "Are you still tired? Or do you maybe want to get some food first?"  
He was still tired, but he didn't seem to feel as tired as he was, the conversation seemed to lift a weight from him and gradually food became more of a priority.  
"Uh. Yeah, that sounds good actually. Now that I think about it I haven't exactly eaten in a week." And he had been sick earlier too.  
"Then how about you come down stairs, I think Erza and Juvia have made something." They both stood up and began to head into the main hall.  
When they arrived downstairs, everyone was still eating. It wasn't long before they noticed their presence and the two were bombarded by a red faced Juvia.  
"When's the wedding? Juvia wants to help out!" She shouted.  
Happy followed, "You lloooove each other" continued by his evil snickering.  
"No we don't!" The unison response made everyone laugh since it didn't help their case.  
"Well I'm glad someone sounds themselves again" Gray and Erza had already figured what they'd spoke about, which was the long and over-due talk on Natsu leaving the Guild for a year.  
Gray knew Natsu's innocence when it came to relationships. If the talk involved that then his reaction to Juvia's and Happy's remarks would have been by far different and no doubt Lucy's would have been too.  
"I'm glad you're feeling yourself again Natsu-san" Wendy smiled. It made her happy to see things to beginning to resume to their former more normal state.  
"I suppose you're feeling hungry now?" Erza asked placing a bowl of soup in front of him as he sat down. It seemed she got her own way after all.  
"Yeah, thank you. And sorry for worrying you all." He replied as began to eat. He ate slowly as since he hadn't eaten in a week and was sick earlier. Eating too quickly may make him sick again. Then he really would need to sleep.  
Gray got the impression that Natsu didn't remember the dream he had earlier. Which made him more concerned for him. Whatever it was, it wasn't good and most likely a memory. If that was the case he needed to make sure that he was close by him when he does remember. However, for now he was happy and everyone else was happy and it was time he enjoyed that while he could. The future ahead was going to be hard. Gray saw Natsu smiling again. He had every right to be.  
Fairy Tail was coming back.

* * *

When Natsu was asleep the others talked. The fact it was Natsu meant that nothing would change. They'd already decided on that. But, that was just them, they didn't know about the others.  
It couldn't be ignored that Natsu is the younger brother of the black mage Zeref.  
Zeref, the one who'd caused Erza to go through so much pain.  
Zeref, the reason why Gray's parents and teacher were dead.  
Zeref, the reason why Ultear was dead.  
The list of the dead would be never ending. The list of puppets would be even longer.  
But, that's when the problem begins.  
Natsu of now is clearly not the Natsu of then. However, the creation of Tartarus was his doing. Right? They still wouldn't kill him. They were going to save him, like he'd saved them.  
Just as they finished their conversation the main entrance door opened.  
The blue hair was unmistakable, "J-Jellal!" Erza and the others were startled to see 3 hooded figures of Crime Sorciere. Jellal, Meredy and one former Oracion Seis member Cobra.  
"What are you guys doing here?" asked Gray. Erza had mentioned to them that Jellal took in the Oracion Seis after Doranbolt let them go. "Where are the others?"  
"There doing some other business." Jellal gave a rather ominous response. The nature of their guild was to eliminate Zeref. So if they needed to know, then they'd know. No one questioned further.  
Erza had already told them all there was to Avatar. They had already figured why they were here, that or it was a massive coincidence. Deep down the visit filled them with dread.  
Erza sighed, "He's asleep. He doesn't remember anything." The others glanced at her. She knew Jellal well, it was pointless to hide anything. Cobra was the one who knew about Tartarus. Who knows what else he knows. It was only a matter of time before they did piece things together, they might as well get through it now.  
"So you guys know?" Meredy spoke up.  
"It's why we're the only ones here." Gray spoke nervously.  
Cobra eventually spoke, "I had met Tartarus once. Brain took me to them as he wanted to 'figure them out' and with my abilities that was possible. At the time no one knew that they were demons from Zeref's book. Not until I heard all of them. Something about etherious." He paused with uncertainty. "Later I found out what they really were and their goal. To revive END. The thing I could never work out though is despite them being aware END was their former master. They couldn't remember what they looked like. Any memory of being with him was fuzzed out. I guess that must have been Zeref's doing."  
"Why would he do that?" Juvia asked.  
It was a little odd that Cobra was here since he was someone who caused them a lot of trouble in the past. Then again, so had the other two and even Juvia herself.  
He continued, "The first mention of them being involved with Zeref, made us keep a distance. Whatever it was. They were near the centre. We had our own goals. Neither of us pried further than we needed to. He told me that I was to never tell anyone. We made the alliance to keep each to our own and never cross paths and left."  
"In a sense we all broke that." Meredy smiled nervously. She was right. Her and Cobra's guilds tried to use each other as a means to an end. Tartaros was the end game.  
"So even Brain was nervous about them." Erza stated.  
"They're a double edged sword. From what I could hear, everyone was nervous about them." Cobra paused, "The first person I told anything in regards to those demon freaks was Doranbolt and later found myself prying on the very thing I decided I'd never do." It suddenly made sense why Doranbolt let them out, that was a fact that was never mentioned.  
"So how did you find out?" Erza asked turning to Jellal.  
"It's a long story, but we found ourselves at a prestigious university in one of the southern countries. 400 years ago it was closed down after an unregistered incident. All the students and teachers were killed." Jellal paused.  
"And let me guess, Zeref was the _unregistered incident_." Gray continued.  
"Once. As it turns out he was a student and well, his name is written as Zeref Dragneel in school records. They're not so easy to find as expected though. It was only a matter of time before we found his full record and found he had a deceased younger brother. Natsu." He paused. When they found Zeref's full name they thought they maybe Natsu was somehow a descendent. Until they dug further.  
"He has a curse known as the contradictory curse. A fact we were already aware of. The university has most of his works buried deep into the system but we managed to find them. It suddenly made sense of how he got the curse." Meredy interceded.  
"How?" Lucy perked up. It suddenly became a history lesson and it intrigued her.  
"As you've already figured, the R-system and Eclipse were made to revive Natsu." That whole statement sounded odd and even Jellal hesitated stating the fact, "Well it seems he spent a lot of time with the fascination of life and death. In this city they worshipped a God named Ankhseram, the God of Life and Death."  
"You think he angered the God and was cursed?" Wendy asked. It terrified them all slightly. Now Gods were involved? More importantly they exist.  
"Possibly." He proceeded, "It took some time but, we found the original text on the creation of the books of Zeref. Or Etherious as their correctly known. I guess this was after he got the curse and wanted to die. We learnt that the demons are created from pure ether particles. Meaning they don't have souls, they really can't be saved. But, END was different. Zeref used the body of his dead brother. Meaning END is somewhat human." They suddenly became startled. They'd the thought had crossed their minds. None of them wanted to admit the possibility of Natsu not being human. Having Jellal state that Natsu wasn't like the others relieved them.  
It meant he could be saved.  
"Where are you going with this?" Lucy asked, still feel a sense of worry.  
"It turned to picking up breadcrumbs and suddenly we have a full history of the Dragneel brothers. You can't revive someone so easily. Zeref has that curse which is why he succeeded, but there was still a price. Natsu died and was revived as a demon. Figuring out what price was paid is what worries me." Jellal answered, noticing the others worry.  
"How come?" Gray asked. He was confused, right now he was pretty sure Natsu has a soul. It was just a brain he lacked.  
"He wasn't exactly going to be revived and be completely fine. It's possible his soul was removed or tainted. So END would be far from the Natsu we know now. But, Zeref disappeared for 400 years, as did END and even Acnologia. Having being at the receiving end of the pink haired pyro's ights and going from what we read, we think Natsu (for whatever reason) got his humanity back and he had something to do with the disappearance of the 4 main forces of evil 400 years ago." Cobra intervened.  
Jellal continued, "Whatever Natsu was then, he isn't that now. But, like the rest of us he isn't free. He won't be until this is all over."  
They were shocked to hear this conclusion, "So you won't kill him?" Gray asked with a sense of relief.  
"Why would we? This isn't his fault. And a lot of the issues we've faced have been fixed because of him. What's more is he has the power to kill Zeref." Jellal insinuated. They all smiled with a sense of relief. They may actually be able to end all of this once and for all after all. Jellal didn't really like the words he had chosen. He wasn't just going to use Natsu the way Zeref has. Natsu was a good friend to him. But he also knew he was right. Natsu may have the power to kill Zeref.

As this conversation was happening, Natsu was upstairs. He was awake and had been the entire time. He had heard everything. He felt a little relieved that they weren't going to kill him. But, he didn't like the concept. He was revived by Zeref. What's more it seems he really was evil 400 years ago and that made him feel sick. _What happens when Zeref unseals that book? What happens to me if Zeref dies? Will I disappear too? Like all his other monsters?_ He suddenly felt so afraid and that feeling of warmth from his friends went away. He felt cold and all he could see was darkness. Maybe Jellal had it right the first time and he was just too naïve to see that.  
 _Freedom is not a thing that exists in this world._


	4. Conflict 4

Once they'd cleared things up, Jellal and the others left. They only came for clarification and to make sure that everything would work itself out. Erza reassured them that they would make it work and fix this. Since Natsu was asleep (or so they thought) there was no need to wake him and confront him, especially as he doesn't remember that time. So there would be little he could tell them anyway. Once the chatter ceased they were gone into the shadows once more.

"He's been asleep all day, I think I should go make sure he's okay" Erza walked towards the infirmary door.  
"You know he has slept for a lot longer" Gray laughed, but Erza opened the door anyway, "Or you can check now that's fine too." He felt ignored, but that's Erza for you.  
She stopped, "Natsu?" the room was dark since it was evening, the natural light had ceased, "You still asleep?"  
No response.  
She then switched on the light. "Nat-?" his bed was empty.  
"Erza-san what's wrong?" asked Wendy.  
She stood still, "Erza? Seriously you're starting to freak us out." Gray walked into the infirmary. He saw the empty bed. And the broken mirror. _And the blood_.  
"What the hell happened? Where's Natsu? Oi Natsu quit fucking around!" he shouted in a panic.  
No response.  
He was gone.  
The others then joined them wondering what all the ruckus was about only to then witness the mess.  
"Blood…T-that blood…it's Natsu-sans" Wendy turned pale.  
It wasn't just the broken mirror and blood that worried them. It was the fact that it wasn't just a drop of blood. The broken shards were drowning in a pool of blood. What's more is the trail heads towards the open window.  
"When did he-" Juvia was shocked.  
"We need to find him!" Lucy protested.  
"I never heard anything. Surely Cobra would have heard something. I mean he broke a damn mirror, that wouldn't exactly be quite." Gray was frustrated. He knew Natsu wasn't okay, he was angry with himself for having not checked in on him earlier. "We shouldn't have left him on his own."  
"Judging from the stain, I think it must have happened this morning, maybe before Jellal and the others even arrived?" Erza pondered. She could see everyone else in a panic, "Its dark out so we'll split up. And all of you need to stop panicking. It'll be even harder to find him if none of you are thinking straight." They all took deep breaths and left the guild together. They decided on whom they'd go with and where they would go look in hope that he was still in Magnolia, unfortunately the trail of blood stops at the window.  
Gray objected he'd go alone, despite Juvia's plea (actually he'd already run off before Juvia could do anything), he felt responsible. He wasn't any more responsible than any of the others. But, he still felt part of this was his fault. He knew about the nightmares and still hadn't told anyone. Maybe Natsu did remember after all.  
Erza stepped in and commanded Juvia to go with her, she didn't have much of a choice than to oblige. Wendy and Carla paired together, while an extremely worried Lucy and Happy left together.

"I think we can cross my old place off the list. He may be delusional but it seems he remembered I don't live here anymore." Lucy looked at how empty the rooms were causing her to feel a sense of sadness dwell in her heart.  
"Aye" Happy mumbled. He was concerned for his best friend. _What caused him to up and leave like that?_ He was worried if Natsu was even Natsu anymore.  
"Hey don't look like that. We'll find him okay." She smiled "He promised me he wouldn't leave again and I trust him. And I know he'd never just leave you behind. So when we find him I'll kick him good for worrying us all so much." She became determined. It wasn't like Natsu, but she managed to reassure herself and Happy.  
"Aye! He can have some of my fish when we get back" He grinned. Natsu and food could never go wrong.

 _This is the S-class exam all over again. Will Juvia ever truly be with her beloved?_ Juvia thought. _Juvia wanted to go with Gray-sama, but she was too slow. Oh Gray my love why do you run so fast!_ Her face went bright red as she begun to enter her own little world.  
"Juvia quite lagging behind! We must find Natsu!" Erza shouted, snapping the water mage out of her trance.  
"Yes Mam!" Juvia began running catching up with the red head, before she was killed by her.

"Do you think Natsu-san was hurt badly?" Wendy asked.  
"We won't know until we find him" Carla protested. She was worried because no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see into the future. It was all dark. Was that possibly the future? _Darkness._ Or was it because with everything happening the path for the future was so unstable and ever-changing that not even she could see what was to come.  
Or could it be she just didn't want to see.  
"Natsu-san!" Wendy shouted.  
"Not so loud child! People are sleeping." Carla stated. It was evening and most of the town was asleep. Natsu should be able to hear her anyway. _Should._ Whether he wanted to, was another question.

* * *

Gray decided to head towards Natsu's house. It was a long shot as he hadn't been there in a year, but it was worth looking. As he approached the house he saw that the door was open and there was blood on the handle. He had to be here. At least he hoped he'd still be here. He ran inside, but it was too dark to see anything.  
"Natsu are you here?"  
Everything was quiet.  
"Natsu?"  
No response.  
Suddenly the floor boards creaked from upstairs. Gray heard a tap running from the bathroom. He ran towards and realized the light was on. He slowly opened the door to find a bloodied, pale Natsu sat on the floor. There was a deep cut on his left arm that was still bleeding quite heavily.  
"Natsu!" Gray darted towards him.  
"It won't come off. Why won't it come off? I'm sorry…" His voice trailed off into a whisper. Gray could just about hear what he was saying.  
He ran into the main room and switched on the light. He was surprised it even worked, considering it hadn't been used in a year. Gray shuffled around the house in search for medical supplies, so he could bandage Natsu's arm. He eventually found something, there wasn't much but it was enough.  
Natsu fell into a trance and didn't acknowledge that Gray was there with him. He was rubbing his hands, so much that they'd begun to bleed. Gray then grabbed his arm and begun to bandage it up. Natsu was so dazed that Gray didn't need restrain him.  
"It won't come off…" he spoke again.  
Gray then shook him to snap him out of his trance, "Natsu! Oi flame brain! Get a hold of yourself!"  
Natsu's voice was shaken, "I can't get it off." He stared blankly at Gray.  
"Hey! S-stop this, we've all been looking for you. You're really starting to worry me. Natsu"  
No response.  
"O-Oi, Natsu…" Nothing reasonable was working. Despite Natsu having clearly lost a lot of blood Gray found himself punching him in the face.  
"Ow! What the hell! What was that for you idiot! Wait… w-why am I here? And why do I feel dizzy. The hell did you do!" Natsu was suddenly panicked as he begun to see that he was in his own house coated in his own blood.  
Gray sighed, "The others are out looking for you idiot! We thought you'd been asleep all day, but when we went to check on you all we found was an empty room with a broken mirror and your blood." Gray didn't really know what he was expecting as an answer.  
Natsu made an effort to stand up, "I-I…uh…Ow!" He flinched as he went to move his left arm, it hurt "The last thing I remember was going to bed…I-I…" Natsu was confused and it was beginning to scare him.  
Gray looked at Natsu's hands. They were red and had bled a little. He stood up and switched off the tap.  
"You were saying that something wouldn't come off. You were bleeding so much that I didn't really stop to ask." He stopped and wondered if it had anything to do with the dream. He didn't know what had happened, but Natsu had mentioned something about blood. _Was he trying to wash blood off him?  
_ "You don't remember anything from the past week do you?" Gray tried to take a steady approach towards the matter. He didn't feel confident in Natsu's current state of mind.  
"Until this morning, the last thing I remember was just after I read Gramps' note and I…no…no I don't remember anything. Why?" He avoided it but Gray knew what he was talking about.  
"It's okay. It doesn't matter."  
Natsu made an effort to stand, but the blood loss was beginning to really affect him. His head began to spin, causing him to stagger. "I think I need to lie down for a bit." He headed towards the living room with help from Gray and sat down on the sofa.  
"Jeez. Erza's going to kill you for having made everyone worry you know." Gray smiled at the thought of Erza kicking the crap out of him. He knew she wouldn't really. Not when she sees him like this. But saying she would gave some normality to the situation.  
"Yeah and she'll kill you for your lack of clothes" Natsu gave a small laugh it was all he could manage with so little energy.  
Gray looked down, "Crap!" Some things never change.  
Natsu began to feel faint, "I-I'm feeling a little tired…" he placed his head on the sofa, "I think I'll just sleep for a bit…sorry for worrying every-" he fell asleep before he finished the sentence.  
"Idiot" Gray smirked.  
Just as Natsu fell asleep the others came running through the door. It seems they all eventually came up with the same idea.  
"Gray-sama!" Juvia shouted.  
"Quite, he's asleep!" his response was contradictory since he shouted back. Gray quickly realized that nothing was going to wake him up.  
"Hey, is he okay?" Lucy kneeled down next to the sofa examining Natsu's bandaged arm, "What happened?"  
"I don't know, he doesn't remember. He seemed to be in some sort of trance when I got here. I had to punch him to knock him out of it. I-" Just as he said that he suddenly felt a fist hit him hard on the head. It was Erza.  
"You fool! Why would you punch him! I know you two don't get along, but he's lost a lot of blood! And put some clothes on!" She complained.  
Gray rubbed his head, "I didn't know what else to do. Punching him wasn't my first idea. Jeez I'm not _that_ cruel. I couldn't get his attention and he seemed to be trying to get something off his hands and he arm was bleeding badly." He then told them all about the nightmare Natsu had only to be followed by another smack around the head. "Ow!"  
"Idiot! Why didn't you tell us sooner! I should have known. It was stupid of me to leave him on his own." Erza began to digress into her usual self-loathing as though everything was all her fault.  
"Calm down will you. He's fine now, he's just lost a lot of blood and he felt faint. With some rest he should be okay." At this point major blood loss had become a normal way of life to most of them, so no one really panicked at Gray's statement.  
"We should at least take him back to the guild." Juvia stated.  
"He's lost a lot of blood. I don't think moving him would be a good idea right now. I'll stay here with him." Lucy responded.  
"You llllllikeeee him" Happy figured to lighten the mood by teasing her. It seemed to do the trick as everyone smiled.  
"Shut it you stupid cat!" As ever the usual response came from her. Amusing the others further.  
"Will you be okay? Should I use my healing magic on him?" Wendy asked.  
"No, don't worry he'll sleep it off and we can figure out what's wrong tomorrow." Said Erza.  
Of course figuring out what was wrong now was merely the beginning.  
END's seal was beginning to break.

* * *

The others returned to the guild. Lucy and Happy stayed with Natsu, who remained asleep on the sofa. Lucy had found a thick duvet that she gently placed on him. He'd lost a lot of blood and it made his body go cold. Juvia brought some food over from the guild and they ate at the house, not leaving Natsu for a second.  
Happy had fallen asleep, snuggled under his best friends right arm for reassurance that he was still there.  
Meanwhile, Lucy couldn't sleep and stayed up most of the night keeping her eye on Natsu, whilst looking over some books she'd take from the guild. The contexts discussed various mythologies of an assortment of Gods. The God of life and death was also mentioned. Just as she went to pick up another book Natsu started mumbling in his sleep.  
"Huh?" She turned around to see the two of them still sleeping.  
"Please don't…I'm sorry…" Natsu whispered.  
She placed the book down and walked over to him, after what Gray had mentioned she was concerned.  
"I'm sorry I didn't mean too…" he continued.  
"Natsu, it's okay it's just a dream" She spoke to him softly while she held his hand to let him know she was there.  
"Please stop, I'm sorry" he muttered, "it hurts... please…." He continued like this for a while.  
Lucy then gently shook him in effort to wake him up, "Natsu wake up. It's just a dream. Wake up."  
He continued.  
"Natsu!" This time she shouted causing Happy to wake up.  
"Lucyyyy why are you shouting" He was half asleep to realize the situation.  
She shook him harder ignoring Happy, "Natsu wake up!" she shouted again.  
Natsu opened his eyes and sat up in a panic, "L-Lucy" he was trembling in fear.  
"Natsu it's okay, you were just dreaming." She hugged him tightly.  
"I'm sorry." His voice was soft and quiet.  
"It's okay. I'm right here and so is Happy." Happy, now more awake, placed his paw on Natsu's side to prove Lucy's point.  
"I'm sorry." He whispered tightly wrapping his arms around the blonde mage.  
"You don't need to apologise." She stated.  
It was all he could say.  
Lucy moved her hands to either side of his face and lifted it up so he was looking at her. He was pale and the early morning lighted showed her that his eyes were all red from his poor sleep.  
"You don't need to apologise. I'm right here, see?" She smiled, "You're not alone, so don't worry. We're not going anywhere. You're safe. I promise." He looked down.  
"Look at me." She demanded. Now his eyes were fixated on hers, "We're going to look after you. I know you want to protect everyone. But, you need to remember that we're protecting you too. We have each other's backs. It's okay to rely on us for a while. You won't be protecting anyone in this state." She smiled at him. He stopped shaking and broke eye contact with her.  
"Thank you Luce. Sorry." He felt ashamed of himself. "I think I'll go clean myself up at bit." He then stood up and staggered to the bathroom. It seemed that someone cleaned the blood up from off the sink and floor. Most likely Lucy.  
Since it was morning and they were all up she decided to go make some breakfast with the little food they had. If they were still hungry they could go buy some or scavenge from the others at the guild. Happy joined her in the kitchen.  
"Mmmm…what should we have?" She pondered. There wasn't much choice, but enough for her to question.  
"Fish!" Of course that was Happy's answer.  
"Normal people don't have fish for breakfast besides you've already had some!" She knew he was a cat, but he should at least know that as he was knowing of some mackerel.  
"Well Natsu does me fish regardless of what time it is. And back at the guild Mira would too." He argued. It was pointless to get into a heated debate over this and gave the cat what he wanted while she was still undecided what to make her and Natsu.  
Natsu was washing his face in the bathroom. He looked in the mirror and saw what a state he was. He knew he felt bad, but he didn't realize he looked absolutely horrendous as well. He decided that a simple face wash wasn't enough so he quickly jumped into the shower it seems Lucy must have brought some shower wash over as he knew that there wasn't any when he left a year ago. He then dried, changed and fixed his hair. He was still slightly pale and tired looking. However, his hair being placed back to its usual spikey way seemed to make him look more like himself again.  
He left the bathroom and entered the kitchen to see Happy eating some fish and Lucy still deciding what she wanted.  
"You still haven't decided?" He asked. Lucy turned around to see Natsu beginning to look like Natsu again which made her smile.  
"Ah…ummm..not really." She replied.  
"They why don't we just head on to the guild and get something on the way, the market should be open now." Despite the lingering redness around his eyes. He was even sounding starting to sound normal too.  
"Y-yeah. I'm sure there all awake now. I need to take these books back and they're really heavy." She was clearly hinting. Although Natsu was already out the door, of course he ignored her. Lucy found herself picking up the books and staggering to the door due to the weight. Happy flew past her catching up to Natsu.  
"H-hey! Could you carry some of these?" She shouted.  
Natsu eventually turned round and began walking towards her, "Jeez, why'd you have to bring them here if you knew they'd be heavy." He carried two of them while she had one. Happy smiled as they walked towards the guild.  
They arrived at the guild having eaten on the way. It was still quite early, but it seemed Gray and Erza were awake and had been for a while and the others were upstairs getting ready. They were surprised to see the three of them walk through the entrance. They jumped up as Natsu and Lucy placed the books on the table.  
"Hey. You still look like hell. And it looks like you haven't slept much either." Gray looked at Lucy and saw that she was also looking tired, he could already guess that she probably stayed up studying.  
"Hey! I'm not that bad!" actually she felt like hell, but she didn't want to explain on why she hadn't slept. "Besides it was really cold last night, so getting to sleep was kinda hard." She didn't want Natsu to know she stayed up all night for his sake. He felt bad enough as it was, she didn't want to add to that.  
"Well I guess no one's been there for a year, so I suppose there's no heating." Erza smiled.  
"That and the fact it's a pyro that lives there, so there probably isn't heating in the first place" Gray's statement was leading to a fated argument.  
Natsu intervened, "You know Happy lives with me right. Do you honestly think I wouldn't have heating? Anyway you've been there, or did you just ignore that there's a fireplace idiot."  
"Aye!" Happy perked up.  
Of course this lead the two mages to argue like always. Like always they began running out of names to call each other, leading to lame insults. Once that happened then began the actual fighting. Erza was preoccupied in the kitchen to pay notice to them.  
"Ow!" Natsu flinched back. His left arm was still in a lot of pain.  
"That's what you get for trying to start on me flame-brain." Gray felt bad. Usually Natsu could sleep off a wound like that. But, of course he'd actually need to sleep to do that.  
"That's enough you two!" Erza shouted. They both stopped, they weren't going to deny the great and almighty Erza after all.

They were soon joined by the others who grabbed some breakfast. The group were eventually laughing and talking for a while.  
"I was thinking of going to see Warrod-sama to see if he could tell us anything" He didn't know anything in regards to END and told what he knew of Tartarus. She didn't doubt his words.  
"The old tree guy? I thought he was on the council now." Natsu asked.  
"I believe he still lives at his home. Hopefully he should be there now." She stated. "I want to know if he knows of the master's whereabouts. There has to be something. I still don't understand why he would disband the guild and suddenly leave like that." Her voice changed to frustration.  
"Yeah, it was strange. I mean Tartarus were the last of the Balam Alliance. The aftermath was going to be heavy. Why would the master take that risk?" Lucy could never shake off that day when the master told them all he was disbanding the guild.  
"That's what I could never figure out. I'm wondering if not as a council member but a founding member of our guild that Warrod-sama knows something." Erza slammed her fist on the table out of frustration, "There has to be something."  
"The aftermath _should have_ be heavy." Gray mumbled to himself.  
"Juvia will stay. It seems we found a few books that may help. Juvia thinks there might be old records of the guild that may help us with something." The look in Juvia's eyes showed them she was onto something.  
"Old guild records? Why would they tell us anything?" Gray asked.  
"When Juvia was looking through a book there was a few spells in regards to Zeref. One was called 'Law' and Juvia noticed that the concept is the same as 'Fairy Law'. One of the 3 Fairy spells. Juvia was wondering how Mavis came to learn of such a spell, especially as it is considered as a black magic." The others became more eager to go speak to Warrod.  
It was beginning to look odd how Natsu, Zeref's brother, happened to join the guild. Fairy Tail of all things. It seemed to look like a coincidence, but the more the dug, the more they were beginning to lead towards something.

Erza wanted to clear one more thing up before they left, "Natsu, I don't think you ever mentioned. Where did you grow up with Igneel?" She remembered the day the master came back from one of his guild master conferences, with a pink haired boy nervously stood beside him.  
"Um, in the south near the Pergrande Kingdom. Err…it was call Sin." Everyone stopped in shock.  
"Eh! You're kidding me right!" Gray shouted. Natsu looked at him blankly.  
"What?" He hadn't really seen the problem in the matter.  
"Natsu, the Pergrande Kingdom is practically parallel to Fiore. How in the hell did you get here?" Lucy asked, "What's more is that's the biggest kingdom in the whole of Earth-land. So why would you even come to Fiore?" She had a point. Sure Fiore was pretty much the capital of the magic world. But, there were far greater places and Fiore was a world away from Sin. So how did Natsu and the Makarov meet.  
"I...uhhh" Natsu suddenly remembered the map of Earthland (well all he needed to know of it) and began to understand their reaction.  
"How did the master find you? I remember he left on a conference, I can't remember where it was but it was about 3 days away from the guild. He'd spent about a week there if I remember." Gray stated.  
Natsu tired to think and the oddest thing was, is every time he thought about how he and the master met his mind would draw a blank, "I…I can't seem to remember…uhh…it's kinda a blur."  
"Is it because you're stupid. Or should we be concerned about this?" Gray asked.  
"Hey I'm not stupid!" He growled at Gray. "Ugh, I don't know. The last thing I remember clearly was being in a city somewhere in the kingdom looking for Igneel. Then every things kind of a blur. I can't remember." It was so long ago and between 'losing' Igneel and joining the guild everything happened so quickly.  
He continued, "One thing I can remember is that I didn't meet gramps until I was somewhere in the Bellum country. But, I remember I was with someone before that…but, I don't know. To be honest I've thought about it before and every time I try to remember a face. It's just… blank." He then felt a sharp pain from the back of his head and he was on the floor. Erza punched him.  
"Did you not think that was odd? Idiot! Why have you never mentioned this before?!" She shouted. Before Natsu could give a reply she continued, "Well never mind, Gray, Natsu, Lucy and I will head to Warrod-sama's for answers. You four try to find the old guild records and anything else that may be of use." She pointed to Juvia, Wendy, Carla and Happy. She thought it would be best to split the group evenly to help with both searches.  
The four of them left the guild, found a carriage and headed toward Warrod's house (of course, after Wendy had cast troia on Natsu. Strongest demon or not just throw him on transportation and well, that's Natsu for you).


	5. Conflict 5

Natsu looked in the mirror staring at his own reflection, only it wasn't quite him. It was the other him.  
He was frustrated and afraid, "I don't want this" He whispered. The reflection laughed back at him.  
"You shouldn't be afraid of me." It hissed. "I am you after all. Unless…it's not _me_ you're afraid of. It's _them_." The refection chuckled. "You're so pathetic Natsu. They won't hurt us. You have an army of demons at your call! They _can't_ hurt us!"  
"Shut up!" Natsu shouted closing his eyes and covering his ears.  
"Look Natsu! Make them afraid of you. You have nothing to fear. Humans are lowly, weak creatures. They will kneel before us. Mard Geer was a loyal subject, but he fell to the humans because he underestimated them. He ignored the human emotion, thinking it to be a weak thing. He valued them as lowly insects. We _know_ that isn't what they are. _They're human_. And those humans can still summon a demonic power. Acnologia should be a prime example. But, that's where they fall apart. See, they don't quite acknowledge that Acnologia was human. They were the ones who made up that incessant lie that it was Zeref creation. But, that wasn't a chapter he was a part of. _We both know that_. That was humans and dragons alone. Humans can be bigger monsters than the ones they call monsters. We can make that our strength." The voice began to laugh again.  
" _We can make the world of men burn…"_ The voice trailed off into an echo of laughter.  
Natsu punched the mirror in anger. A shard of glass cut up his left arm and he began to bleed heavily. The moments that followed were a blur.

Suddenly Natsu was covered in blood. But this blood was no longer his. He was surrounded by rubble and blood. _Blood of dead men_. Natsu was in horror as he noticed dragon-like wings sprouting from his back and felt horns from his head. As well as some scales scattered across his body much like his dragon force.  
He wasn't human. But, he was no dragon either.  
 _He was a demon.  
_ Before he could react he was in his house, his bathroom to be exact. But the blood was still there on his hands. He turned on the tap in panic and tried to wash it off, but no matter how hard he tried it wouldn't come off. He scrubbed and scrubbed. Yet the blood remained. He fell to the ground still trying to get the blood off him.  
"It won't come off. Why won't it come off? I'm sorry…" He trailed off into a whisper.  
He continued to scrub his hands. In his eyes the blood remained. In reality his hands were beginning to bleed from the excessive rubbing and the blood from his left arm trailed down. What he perceived as blood, was simply the water he tried to use to wash away the blood.  
"It won't come off." He panicked, "I can't get it off." He continued to rub his hands.  
He heard his own voice again. It was coming from the mirror. It was laughing.  
 _"You can't run away Natsu…"  
_ "Natsu!" This voice was different. He felt as though he was being shook.  
"Hey! Wake up!" it sounded like Erza. He slowly opened his eyes to see a red head and stood behind was Lucy and Gray.  
"Ugh." He slowly sat up from the sofa wondering where he was. Judging from all the plants it must have been Warrod's house. The last thing he remembered was being sat in the carriage making their way here. His mind drew a blank after that.

* * *

"What happened?" His voice was quiet as he was still adapting to being awake. His head began to feel like there was something sharp inside it.  
"We were talking to Warrod-sama and you suddenly fainted. Although you were beginning to look quite pale on the way over. But we figured it was maybe because Wendy's spell was wearing off." Lucy spoke while she was fetched him a glass of water.  
The pain from his head was beginning to make him feel sick, "When did we get here?" he rubbed his eyes, the bright light was making them hurt.  
"A while ago, don't you remember?" Gray asked.  
Natsu took a sip of the water Lucy gave him, it made him realize how dry his throat was and he started to cough. "No." he coughed again. Just talking felt painful, as though his throat had been burnt out.  
"You were muttering in your sleep. That seems to be a habit of yours lately." Gray was perplexed. He figured why, but he wanted to see if he could get anything from him. "Did you remember anything?"  
Natsu looked at him blankly, "Uh, n-no" He hesitated. He remembered the other night, but he didn't want to tell them in case they thought he was crazy.  
"You sure?" Lucy asked.  
Natsu went quiet which made his response more unconvincing. He begun to cough again, the more he did, the more it began to hurt. 'Ow.'  
"You should drink some more" Erza stated, trying to encourage Natsu to drink more water.  
He continued to cough so much that taking a drink wasn't a possibility anymore. He'd just stark choking on it. A taste iron began to form at the back of his throat.  
Erza rubbed his back and placed her hand on his head, "You're starting to get a fever again."  
"I-I'm fine." He didn't want to worry them again. "Where is the old tree guy anyway?" He changed the subject whilst still trying not to cough.  
"He went into his garden to get some herbs. He knows something and we might be here a while." replied Lucy.  
"Do you think you can hold out for a while?" Erza asked.  
"I'll be fine" He replied. However, his cheeks had gone bright red with fever and every now and then he would start coughing. They weren't convinced of his statement. He looked like he should be in a hospital bed right now. Even Natsu could only handle so much.

Before long, Warrod entered the room with cups of herbal tea. Everyone took one although hesitant. They hadn't forgotten last time.  
"Don't worry I promise you this will relax you." Everyone just stared with anxiety waiting for his usual words. But he remained silent, smiling eagerly.  
They all took a sip, much to their surprise it wasn't like last time. It actually tasted good, although it did make Natsu cough again.  
"Mmm. This is good. What is it?" Erza asked.  
"It's taken from snake skin" Everyone spat out the drink, "That's just a joke you know." He laughed. They already began to feel tired. This conversation was going to be long.  
"I know why you're here." He looked at Natsu, who looked like he was about to faint again. The look in Warrod's face changed, it seemed that he would be consistently serious after all. This made then more anxious.  
"Do you know where the master is Warrod-sama?" asked Erza. She was determined to leave here with at least some questions answered.  
"Unfortunately I don't. Also, I honestly don't know why he disbanded the guild, you know as much as me on that one." He paused. "But, I know he did it in good measure and I believed the guild would be back some day. Fairy Tail doesn't fall so easily."  
"We hoped you'd be able to answer that one." Gray said. They all trusted the old man's words. At this point it become quite clear he had his reasons to lie if he had. Right now it became clear he was ready to tell them the truth.  
"I apologise I cannot. But, it seems there is something else on your minds. Right?" He looked back at Natsu. He knew what really lead them here. All in all, Warrod Seeken was a simple, honest man.  
"Uh…m-maybe." Natsu hesitated, he was still trying to adapt to his surroundings.  
"A long time ago I was a treasure hunter. Not a mage. I worked alongside Precht who became second master to the guild and Yury Dreyar, Makarov's father." He stopped. It made him a little sad to know of what Precht became and knew that he tainted Mavis' homeland with darkness, war and destruction.  
"Y-you were a treasure hunter?" Lucy was shocked. Having met some in the Sun Village, she couldn't picture this old man being like them.  
They were half expecting him to say ' _that's just a joke though'_ , but he continued, "Yes I was. We went looking for something known as the Tenrou Jade. It was believed to be a powerful magical object. Which to us meant it would be worth a lot too. We found ourselves on Tenrou Island, where Mavis lived. Yury lost a bet to her" He chuckled at the memory of Yuri's reaction. He'd never lost at that silly game. "She informed us that a guild known as Blue Skull had beaten us to the Jade. She hoped we could help her and take it back to her homeland."  
"Mavis was alone?" Lucy asked concerningly. The island wasn't that big, but the thought of a small girl being alone there sounded worrying.  
"Yes. She told us that this Blue Skull guild had raided the village she lived in. She never went into detail. She was the sole survivor. They must have taken the Jade without her knowing." He hadn't forgotten Zera, but he hadn't forgotten what Zera really was. She needn't be a part of this tale.  
Everyone was shocked to hear this. _How long had she been alone for?_ But they had some idea how this tale ended. The creation of Fairy Tail. So they thought ahead and figured that there was happiness to this tale.  
"We found the Blue Skull guild. They were located in Magnolia. As expected they had the Tenrou Jade." Suddenly the information of the creation of the guild began to fall in place.  
"We tried to fight them, but none of us were mages. Apart from Mavis, who only knew illusionary magic. It worked for a while, but we had to flee eventually. Mavis was determined to get it back and place it back where it belonged." He paused, "Then we met someone. After Mavis' wish, he spent a few days teaching each of us magic." He stopped.  
"Who taught you?" Erza's curiosity was peaked.  
"You could class him as a founding member. I suppose." He hesitated. "If it wasn't for him we wouldn't have beaten that guild and our guild would have never been created." The group eagerly awaited for him to continue. "Makarov's son believes we hold a darkness at the centre. Depending on how you look at it, we well may do. Precht may have told him something. But, I believe there is no evil. Magic is magic, it's all the same, and it's how it is used that then determines whether or not it's light or dark. The man who taught us was the black wizard, Zeref."  
"Zeref taught you!?" Gray wasn't sure how he felt about this revelation. But a part of him didn't seem too surprised.  
"Mavis worked out as soon as she met him, that he had the contradictory curse. We were never made aware until years later." He continued.  
"How many people do you expect has that kind of curse?" Lucy asked.  
"Well it was information Mavis kept concealed from us until later. She must have known who he was, but she needed help." He tried to justify the actions taken those few days. "From our perspective he was just a talented wizard. Aside from Law, which he taught Mavis in secret, he taught us normal magic. Magic made powerful by ourselves. But never black magic."  
"What happened to the Jade anyway?" asked Erza.  
"It was destroyed, Mavis used _Law._ It was a powerful object that concealed powerful dark magic, one that couldn't be controlled. Months later we found ourselves becoming true mages and thus created Fairy Tail."  
"There was one more thing that I wasn't made aware of until very late on, it seems that Mavis only told me. Because of my magic she must have already deduced that I was going to live a long time. She felt that she wanted to repay Zeref. I thought it was odd when she told me that, but she valued all life. She said she'd made a returning favour to him for having taught us magic. He never expected her to, so she told me, but after the guild was created she met with him once more and asked if there was any way she could repay him. More than giving him illusions of life, as that is what she did when they first met." He smiled at the thought of her innocence.  
"Illusionary animals. Why?" Lucy asked.  
"Because of the curse, Zeref can't go near anything living not at the risk of taking its life. She must have studied that and came up with that idea. But, she wanted to do more for him. He told her how he got the curse, and why. He told her he had a brother who was sealed away and he knew that one day that seal would break. He said he'd seen how our guild was and would hope that one day he would get to have that life."  
Natsu became self-conscious, he wasn't sure how he felt about this information. _Does Zeref actually care?  
_ "Mavis made him a promise that his brother would join our guild. Zeref told her where he was and told her that a dragon named Igneel would look after him for a while, but one day he will leave and he hoped that his brother wouldn't be alone. Mavis told me years later. When that day came I told Makarov. He already knew that Zeref has some involvement with the creation of our guild, so to speak, so he accepted this information quite well."  
"You know, for once I'm hoping for you to turn and say that's a joke." Natsu felt dizzy.  
"For the sake of setting your mind at ease I would like to, but sadly I can't. Otherwise that would be a joke." He replied.  
Natsu looked down. It was a lot to process, for all of them. But, the others knew that Natsu would be the one hurting the most. They tried to keep their heads held high for his sake. He wouldn't be able to fight for a while, so they'd have to fight for him.  
Lucy sat down next to him, "It's going to be okay." She smiled, "You've got us!" she tried to reassure him.  
He gave a small smile, "Yeah" he spoke quietly his throat still hurt. He wasn't so sure for how long he still had them.  
"Hey if you're going to smile then smile properly idiot. You've always said how you believe in us, so don't stop now. Trust us. We're Fairy Tail! We always come out on top and you're not leaving." Gray smiled. It seemed spending all that time with Juvia made him go soft.  
"What's going to happen to me when Zeref does break the seal on the book?" Natsu changed the subject, before he made any promises he wasn't so sure he could keep. His voice had become broken and quiet from coughing.  
"I can't answer that. That's only something you can know. But, Mavis believed that you would be the one to defeat Zeref. With Fairy Tail behind you. Not END or Tartarus. Do not despair. Do not give up. You have all come so far. You have won many battles and there will be many more ahead. You must not stop now." He smiled at them. "You've all grown a lot in a year."  
They all smiled. Natsu was beginning to feel less dizzy and stood up, however continued to cough. The water didn't seem to help much.  
"Thank you Warrod-sama. You've been much help." Erza smiled.  
"I'm sorry I can't tell you where the third is. That's something we'd all like to know." Warrod replied solemnly.  
"That's okay. We appreciate your help. Thank you for the tea, we must be going now." She continued.  
They headed towards to door and made their way down the path. Their carriage had gone back to the town, but they didn't mind walking. Especially Natsu, Wendy's spell had no doubt worn off by now and the fresh air seemed to make him feel better and eased his mind.

The group directed back to the guild satisfied with the new found information. They still had no idea where to begin in regards to the master, but they had something. Natsu could smell food cooking.  
Wendy came out of the kitchen, "You guys! Did you find anything?" She smiled.  
"Yeah. Are you guys cooking something?" As Gray asked his stomach rumbled. It hadn't occurred to any of them how hungry they were until now.  
"We couldn't find much, but we realized what time it was so Juvia started cooking." She answered.  
"In that case we can discuss over some Lunch then." Erza smiled.  
Lucy looked over at the table, where she and Natsu had placed down the book from this morning. She realized there were only 3, "Did you guys move one of the books?"  
"No, you only brought 3 with you didn't you?" Wendy replied.  
"Oh! I must have left one at the house!" Why hadn't she noticed? She really must have been tired.  
"I can go get it if you want. Now that I think about it I think I remember you had another one." Natsu said. He'd begun to feel better from the fresh air, although his throat was still scratchy.  
"Now you remember. Jeez, why didn't you remember this morning when we left." She shouted.  
"Why didn't you remember how many you brought with you?" He argued back. He had a point, she was the one who brought them and no one was aware of how tired she really was, so they weren't exactly going to be sympathetic on the matter.  
"I'll go back and get it now." She sighed.  
"Are you sure?" Natsu asked.  
"Well you sure as hell ain't going on your own." Gray interrupted, "Besides its only one book. Unless you're hiding something" He smirked.  
"What the hell would I be hiding, moron." Natsu snapped.  
"Well I don't know, lizard freak." He argued back.  
"Well, keep your mouth shut, ice princess."  
They both got ready to punch each other, yet before they could, Erza threw their heads together, "Would you both knock it off!" she said in frustration with both of them at her feet.  
"Sorry" They mumbled in unison while in a heap on the floor.  
Lucy left, while the others got ready for lunch and recapped Warrod's story. The others could only find an old register from the first's time at the guild, but nothing of use. Lucy quickly hurried back and joined them to eat.

* * *

A few days past and everything started to settle down. The group was still piecing things together. Bringing about Fairy Tail's revival remained on hold for now. They decided that they needed to have as much of an understanding as possible before having to involve their friends into this mess. It was likely that a major war was brewing in the underworld. This lack of activity from the dark guilds was the calm before the storm. Tartaros and Avatar was barely scratched the surface.

It was getting late. Wendy and Carla had already headed to bed, while the others were clearing up. They wanted to find what they could at the guild, before expanding their search.  
"I'm starting to feel sleepy. I'm going to bed. You guys don't mind?" Lucy yawned.  
"Go one, we're nearly finished here." Erza said, placing some books back on the shelf.  
"Juvia's hopes you don't mind, but she's going too." She rubbed her eyes.  
Before she left Lucy had noticed Happy had already fallen asleep on a pile of books, she giggled, "I think I should take Happy with me."  
"Aye" He replied sheepishly as she picked him up gently.  
The two mages headed off towards the infirmary, being quiet on the way to avoid waking up the others on their way. The remaining three didn't feel at all tired and stayed downstairs.  
"I was thinking of taking a bath. Thanks to the towns people the place has been kept in good shape. You boys should get one too." Erza spoke in a tone as though they weren't really being given a choice.  
"I don't wanna take a bath right now." Natsu moaned.  
"You boys have been fighting a lot today and I'd rather the room didn't smell of sweat." She insisted.  
"Ugh, have it your way. I'd protest, but I'm tired and I don't want to wake the others up. Lucy isn't fun to wake up." Gray hadn't forgotten what happened when shared a room in Crocus.  
"Yeah, I learnt that the hard way." Natsu had remembered too.

* * *

The novelty of seeing each other naked had worn off (especially Gray, who was practically all the time), they all used the same area.  
It actually been a long time since it was just the three of them and the situation seemed a little odd at first. They'd gotten quite used to the presence of two exceeds, Lucy and Wendy. Gray had also gotten used to Juvia's presence despite her antics. What's more is that they couldn't forget that it been a year. After talking for a while, it become more obvious how much they all changed, especially Natsu, a fact that was prominent before this mess.  
Gray noticed his arms. The left one was bandaged from the mirror incident. But the right had been bandaged since he saw him in the Avatar's guild hall. It was then he began to see that the matter was a little odd. If there was one thing Natsu hadn't mentioned, not even to Lucy, it was where he'd actually been for the most part of his travels. His said he'd travelled a lot, but there was a major gap between one place and then going to Fiore's capital and meeting Lucy. What's more is Natsu and Happy were the only members who had completely vanished from existence. (Aside from Gildarts of course).

Lucy had tried to keep a detail track on everyone. Erza also, somewhat, kept track, mainly just from hearing and reading things, she didn't go out of her way to keep up. Even still, she expected Gildarts, Laxus and the Raijinshuu to fall of the face of the Earth, but not Natsu. Everyone was shocked when they found out that it was Natsu who was the first to leave.  
"You know the point of a bath is to clean right?" Gray wanted to push this, and year or not he knew Natsu well enough now to know he was hiding something.  
Natsu tilted his head in a confused manner, "Yeah, what's your point? I'm not stupid"  
"Well you're still wearing your bandages. I think it's safe to assume it's healed by now." Gray persisted.  
Erza had begun to catch on to what Gray was talking about, "It would be good to wash them you know."  
"Jeez, I haven't not removed them you know." He grew anxious.  
"Why don't you remove them now?" Erza edged closer. She was more persistent than Gray and was willing to use force.  
"I-I…W-What are you doing?" He noticed her movement, before she got closer he jumped out of the bath and quickly changed, "I-I think I'm done. I'm kinda tired so I think I'll..umm… got to bed.." before he made it to the door it had become frozen shut.  
"You're hiding something." Gray stated.  
"N-no I'm not" He hesitated.  
"Remove your bandages then." Erza asked calmly. Her and Gray also got out and changed.  
"O-okay." He removed the bandaged from his left arm, revealing the scar caused from the mirror shard a few nights before.  
"Not that one." This peaked their curiosity further along with Natsu's resilience, "Your right arm."  
"Ummm…I-I…You know I'm rea-" before he could react both Gray and Erza had pinned him down. "Ow!" the force caused him to hit the floor hard. "H-hey!"  
Erza requipped a knife and cut the bandages off. It revealed heavy scars that seemed to still be healing. It looked as though something had tried to rip off his arm.  
Gray's eyes widened, "O-Oi…" he'd noticed Natsu's demeanour changed. The pink haired boy grew silent and began trembling.  
The two loosened their grip and Natsu sat up, "You-your arm! What happened?" Erza was in shock. Going from his actions and his persistency to hide it, there was a tale to this and it wasn't going to be good.  
She asked again more calmly. They could tell he was scared. Whatever it was they couldn't be mad at him for saying nothing. He'd become so frightened.  
"Natsu, its okay" Gray placed his hand on Natsu's shoulder, he flinched.  
"Ac…" His voice was no more than whisper.  
"Natsu, it's okay. You're safe. You can tell us. What happened?" They both tried to approach the matter carefully.  
"I-I was on my own. We found some of the other exceeds. So, Happy stayed with them for a while. I went off on my own. I was in this…village and…noticed something off about it. I could smell something, it was familiar…I didn't know..." His eyes widened in fear, "I didn't know…"  
"Natsu." Erza sympathized at how stressed and scared he seemed.  
"I went to check…It was so familiar." He whispered, as though he was talking more to himself. "…I didn't know…I should have known. I should have turned back. I shouldn't have gone." He continued to shake.  
"Natsu calm down, it's okay" Erza held his hand to reassure him.  
"I didn't know. I wanted to run. I was so… _He_ was there. He shouldn't have been there. He-he…he was _human_ …" He stopped.  
"Who?" Gray asked.  
"Acnologia..." He whispered softly.  
Their hearts skipped a beat upon hearing that name. What was more is that he wasn't in his dragon form. Was that more dangerous?  
It seemed so. "He wanted to kill me. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't move. His arm was there and I don't know how. Igneel took it off. I'm sure he did." He looked at Erza, "I swear I didn't try to fight him." He was one for fights and swore to Igneel that he'd take down the black dragon. But, at that point in time even Natsu knew he would have been out of his league.  
"It's okay we believe you." They were aware that even Natsu had a limit to fear.  
"I didn't know what to do. He knew who I was. Maybe Zeref told him. I don't know...I was scared" Natsu admitting when he was scared was one thing, but he wasn't just scared. He was terrified.  
"It's okay you're safe." Erza hugged him in order to calm him down, "It's okay, we're here now. I promise we won't let it happen again". Before long the shaking stopped.  
"We should take him to bed." Gray broke the silence.  
"Yeah. Natsu, can you stand?" Erza spoke quietly.  
There was no response. She moved him slightly to see his face. His eyes were closed. He'd fallen asleep.  
Gray frowned, "He looks exhausted."  
Erza carried him to the infirmary, with Gray in front of her to open the doors. They remained quite since everyone was asleep.  
As Erza lowered Natsu into bed, Gray fetched some bandages, "Do you think he's really going to be okay?" he whispered, while bandaging up Natsu's right arm, as it was still in the healing process.  
"We will stay by him no matter what. I'm sure he'll come around eventually. It's just going to take time." She gave a small smile.  
"Jeez. We're really in deep this time." As Gray finished with the bandages, Erza gently pulled the sheets over Natsu and tucked him in before.  
The two went back downstairs and talked over hot chocolate.

"I feel like this is all falling apart so quickly." Gray spoke quietly. Since the infirmary door clearly needed oil, they left it open.  
"We can come back from this. We always find a way. It might even become easier when everyone joins us. But, I guess we should still hold off on that for now. Until Natsu is properly back on his feet." She took a sip from her drink.  
"Yeah, I guess. I'm just worried we're going to lose him. I know we always fight, but he's become like my brother." He looked down at his drink, "Even if we do get through all this, what's going to happen to him when we kill Zeref? He's alive because of him. Will Natsu go like all the other demons? When we end all this I want Natsu back at the guild with us." He wanted to avoid what seemed like the inevitable at this point. "But, I'm scared that when we walk away from this. He won't be there." Just the thought of Natsu dying for their sake killed him inside. Natsu stopped him and Erza from sacrificing themselves. They wanted to prevent him from doing the same, but they may not get a say.  
"We will find a way." She tried to remain hopeful, "Now I think it's time we got some sleep, you're starting to look tired. I'm sure I am." She laughed.

* * *

"Natsu…" A voice whispered in Natsu's ear causing him to wake up.  
"Huh?" Nobody was there.  
Everyone was still asleep. With force, he found himself getting out of bed and walking outside.  
There was a familiar presence. He ran off into the darkness trying to find the source. Before long he was far from the guild and had ventured into the woods. He was at the source.  
Zeref.  
"What the hell!" Natsu shouted at him. He honestly didn't know what else to say or do.  
He smiled.  
"What the fuck did you do to me?!" He was angry. But, he felt a force stopping him from running up and hitting him. That force was his own conscience.  
He started coughing again, his throat burning up.  
Zeref, remaining silent, summoned forth the book on END. Natsu's eyes lit up with panic upon its gaze.  
"Don't you dare!" A voice came from behind Natsu. It was Gray. He must have heard Natsu leave and followed him.  
Natsu continued coughing, "It…hurts…" struggling for breath, he fell to his knees. It wasn't his throat, but his heart. It began beating rapidly.  
Gray ran to him, "Natsu!" He kneeled next to him and looked at the black mage, "You bastard! What have you done?!"  
Zeref eventually responded, "Nothing." He looked down at his brother.  
"Liar!" He growled.  
Natsu started coughing up pools of blood, "H-hey, Natsu…" Gray didn't know what to do. He tried casting a spell on Zeref to stop him, but nothing happened. Zeref placed the book on the floor and a magic circle appeared around it.  
Zeref was gone. Natsu had passed out.  
The book was open.  
Before Gray could make any attempt at advancing, the book vanished. The book remained at the back of his mind. Even when he turned to see Natsu had passed out.  
"Natsu!" Gray cradled him in his arms. He was still breathing, but it was shallow. There was blood dripping from his mouth. "Natsu wake up!" Gray pleaded with fear as he lightly shook him in hope he'd open his eyes.  
Natsu began to open his eyes, "Gr...ay…" his voice was broken, while coughing up ounces of blood.  
"Hey, hey don't talk aright. You're gonna be okay." Gray didn't know what to do he could see the fear in Natsu's eyes.  
Natsu gave out a whimper. He wanted to scream out in pain, but his voice box had given out. He felt a sharp pain serge through his entire body causing him to shriek. "It…hurts…make it…stop…" multiples of everything in his sight formed before him, making him feel sick.  
"You're gonna be okay. We'll go back to the guild. You can get some sleep. I promise you're going to be okay. Just stay with me." He was scared that if Natsu passed out again, the next time he wakes up he wouldn't be Natsu anymore. However, he could feel the heat coming from Natsu's body and had become too afraid to move him, having seen how much pain Natsu was in.  
Natsu struggled to keep his eyes open, "Natsu, stay with me. Just hold on for a little longer." He carefully picked him up. Porlyusica! He thought. Her house was nearby. Dawn had broken the sky up into an array of oranges, reds, yellows and blues.

The old woman heard him arrive and opened the door. She pieced together an idea of what had happened and hurried him inside.  
"Natsu? Natsu! Hey wake up!" Gray shook him. When placing him on the bed he'd suddenly noticed that his eyes were closed, "Hey!" Natsu's eyes flickered open.  
They didn't want to lie him down and they didn't want him falling asleep just yet. Porlyusica wanted the pain reduced or he'll be at risk of slipping into a coma she stated. He sat on the edge of the bed with Gray as support since he was swaying.  
"Hey you're going to be okay." Gray felt tears fall down his face. He was afraid, afraid that he was going to lose one of his best friends.  
Natsu gave a small smile, "Heh, there really is something wrong…if you're crying." His voice was broken and quiet, followed by coughing.  
"Here take this. It'll help with your throat." She handed Gray the cup having seen Natsu's hands shaking, he'd probably drop it. The ice mage carefully placed the cup to Natsu's mouth. He found it hard to swallow but managed somehow.  
Porlyusica cluttered about the kitchen making medicine. "Do the others know you're here? Do they know what's happened?" She asked.  
"No. Natsu left. I followed him and before long Zeref appeared. He- he…" Gray was still in a panic. It all happened so quickly.  
"Ow…" Natsu coughed. The medicine was working as his voice gradually became clearer.  
"Why did you leave?" She turned to Natsu.  
He made an attempt to look up at her. Although his eyes wanted to close, "I-I don't know, something went wrong. I know I shouldn't have." He coughed again, "I heard someone call me. It's stupid…I know…I'm sor-" He began to cough before he was able to finish his sentence.  
"It's okay, it's nobody's fault." She turned to her mixing bowl and began muttering to herself, "This was going to happen sooner or later. Makarov what were you thinking you fool." She looked angry as she remembered the day he told her everything in regards of Natsu. "Fool." The two didn't hear her across the room.  
Natsu began to hear a ringing in his ears, "Ugh…" his hands grasped both his ears.  
"Natsu what's wrong?" Gray looked at him.  
He fell to the floor and curled up, "Ahh…it hurts!" He cried.  
"Natsu!" Gray tried to shake him for a response.  
He started screaming out in pain despite how damaged his voice was. Before long the bandages on his right arm burned off turning to ashes.  
The ringing got louder and so did Natsu's screams, "Make it stop." He sobbed.  
Porlyusica prepared the herbs and mixed it with hot water and fed it to Natsu.  
"Natsu it's okay." She stroked his head to calm him. He started to feel the pain ease up and eventually passed out.  
"What was that?" Gray asked in confusion.  
"It's a strong pain killer. I can't guarantee it'll work all the time, but it seems to have worked for now. Hopefully with some rest he might ease up. But, I don't know." She signalled Gray to put Natsu on the bed.  
He glanced at Natsu's right arm, "What the-" the marks had completely healed up leaving only faint scars. "They weren't like that-" Gray stopped. There was horror in his eyes. Red scales started forming on Natsu's arm. "H-hey…what's happening to him?"  
Porlyusica looked startled. Yet, at the same time she had prepared herself for this, "It may take time. It's the same as you a few months ago. You believe in him don't you?" She asked.  
"Y-yeah. But, I don't know. Not about this. He needs us. I don't think he can handle it this time." He stood up.  
"You stay here and keep him calm. I'll go to the others." She said.  
"I-I don't mind." He felt weak before the situation and didn't know what to do.  
"No, he needs you by his side. I will inform the others." She turned to the door and left.  
Gray sat on the edge of the bed looking at his friend who looked like he was in a lot of pain.  
Natsu cowered, "It hurts…I'm sorry…please…" he whispered.  
Gray stroked his pink hair, "it's okay. I'm right here and I know that Lucy will come soon too. Don't worry. It's our turn to save you." He spoke softly.  
Natsu grabbed his arm, "Don't leave me…" Gray looked at him, "Please don't go…I'm sorry…don't leave me." Gray frowned.  
"Natsu you're not alone." He said.  
"Don't go…Please don't go…I'm sorry…I'll listen…Don't go…mother..." this startled Gray. In more ways than one. Natsu must be getting his memories back, but to state mother? _What happened to you?_  
"Natsu its Gray. I'm right here next to you. Listen to me, whatever you're remembering right now, I want you to remember Fairy Tail too. You're not alone and I'm going to make sure that you never are."  
Natsu began to open his eyes, but they weren't quite right. Instead of white it was black and his pupils were a crimson red. This startled Gray having thought the worst.  
"Gr…ay…" despite how timid and broken it may have seemed. The tone of voice was still Natsu.  
"You made a promise right?" Gray replied. He felt some reassurance that Natsu said his name.  
"Y-yeah…We're go..ing…back to the…guild….right? Luce…would kill me if I…left again." Natsu tried to smile with what little energy he had.  
"Yeah of course we are. And soon we'll have the guild back together again. We'll go on more adventures." Gray smiled.  
"I'd like that."

Before long the others had arrived and barged through the door in panic.  
"What happened?" Erza asked as Lucy skipped the talk and went straight to Natsu's side.  
"Zeref showed up. It happened so quickly. I didn't know what to do." Gray felt ashamed.  
"It's not your fault. I'm just glad you were with him, Porlyusica filled us in." Erza smiled for reassurance.  
"Porlyusica-san has gone to fetch more herbs. Wendy and Carla have gone with her Gray-sama" Juvia exclaimed.  
Lucy sat beside Natsu stroking his head, while Happy stood next to him with a deep look of worry on his face.  
"This is Natsu we're talking about here. He's gonna be okay." Gray tried to reassure everyone. "He even told me that he'd rather not have Lucy kill him, so he'd better be okay."  
Lucy smiled, "Yeah you're right." You're damn right I'll kill you. You promised. "I believe in him." It was obvious that Lucy had gone into her whole little world. Just one with her and Natsu.  
Erza smiled, "How about we head back to the guild. I don't think Porlyusica will appreciate us all being here."  
Gray looked at her with worry, only to see Lucy tucking Natsu properly into bed. She had everything sorted. He then smiled and Juvia's cheeks went red as her mind once again started to wonder. Only God knows what she was thinking.  
"Yeah you're right. As always. Lucy we're gonna head back. Happy you come with us, you should get some sleep and here isn't the best place." Gray picked Happy up as he was already falling asleep.  
Lucy remained in her little world and gave no response. They walked out the door and she continued to keep her eyes fixed on Natsu while holding his hand.

Porlyusica entered to room. Wendy and Carla had gone back to the guild.  
She sighed, "Erza told me you were still here." She looked at Lucy and smiled. The blonde had fallen asleep with her head rested on Natsu's arm. The old woman placed a cover over her. She had no intention of waking her up.

* * *

A day had passed and Natsu was starting to look normal again. The others decided it was time to start getting Fairy Tail back and began writing letters to who they could.  
"E-Erza I think it would be best that you just sealed the letters in the envelopes" Lucy stated, trying to avoid offence. But she'd _seen_ her handwriting.  
"But the more of us who write the quicker it'll be" She spoke in an oblivious tone.  
"Heh. No, it's okay I honestly don't mind" She smiled.  
"Are you sure?" Erza questioned.  
"Yeah, yeah it's fine really. You can sort the letters out. I like writing anyway." She spoke nervously, hoping the fighting mage wouldn't catch on.  
"Okay then" Erza proceeded to start sorting through the letters.  
Juvia and Wendy and Carla were in the kitchen baking a cake for Natsu since Porlyusica said that he'd be well enough to go and join them later on.  
"Do you think he'll like it?" Wendy smiled.  
"Natsu-san will like anything edible." She giggled, "Ahh Juvia hopes Gray-sama won't take offence that she's baking a cake for another man." "I won't" Gray spoke from behind. He was used to her now. "Anyways that Pyro will eat anything. But, it does smell good, so I'm sure it'll be okay."  
"Aye!" Happy shouted licking his lips "We should make a fish cake!"  
Carla sighed.

Porlyusica walked into the guild hall with Natsu trailing behind her.  
Natsu felt embarrassed. Yet he was quickly shoved into Erza's chest before he could say anything. This time she was wearing her armour. It hurt.  
"You made us worry again. But, you're awake now so it's okay. So no apologies" She stated.  
They all joined together and had dinner, followed by the cake Juvia and Wendy made. No fish, much to Happy's disappointment.  
They all talked and laughed. Things we're beginning to feel like old times. Gray didn't worry too much about Natsu. He looked like his old perky self again. He was smiling and that was enough to make everyone believe in him. The place would look a lot better in the forthcoming days when the others would arrive.  
Fairy Tail would be back to defeat Zeref once and for all.  
Possibly.

 _Heh.  
I told you. I said you couldn't run away. See? There's nothing to fear.  
You're going to watch me burn the world…  
Natsu._


	6. Flames 1

**Book 2: Flames**

* * *

 _Everything's going to be okay.  
Do you trust me…Natsu?  
Natsu?  
Natsu stay with me. You're okay. I promise.  
NATSU!  
_"NATSU!" The boy jolted up from his slumber to see an angry Lucy stood before him.  
Sheepishly, he rubbed his eyes, "Luuuccce, I was sleeping." He groaned.  
"Yeah, in MY bed!" She gave the obvious response, followed by throwing the bed sheets off and Natsu with them.  
"Why do I need to get up now, it's so early?"  
"Well. YOU kept me awake with your damn snoring, it's only fair. Besides, Erza wants us to go on a- Job." She hesitated with the term, because it wasn't a typical guild job and they wouldn't be getting any pay for it.  
Natsu sighed. He knew what she meant. She meant they were going to do more research on Zeref. Natsu got his memory back, but only briefly, he collapsed one day and woke up a few days later not remembering. The worst part is, is he couldn't bring himself to talk about it, which everyone respected. They soon regretted that, since now they had backtracked.

On the other hand, the guild was back. The Master had been in the great Empire, Alvarez, to prevent potential war. Yet, the effort may have only spurred war further.  
Zeref is their ruler and the Spriggan 12 are almost godly in power.  
With all that in mind Erza finally decided that they had to tell its core members everything (Only the ones most willing and loyal to the guild). _Including the part about Natsu being E.N.D._ It was hard to take in, but there was a reason they stood by all this time, they were family.  
Fortunately, Levy and Gajeel working under the council paid off. Levy had done research leading her to the discovery of the Dragneel family. She wanted to rid the pieces of the information, to prevent anyone else from finding out, but not too much that someone would suspect or notice missing files and books. Agreeably they didn't want to jump to conclusions over Natsu, they knew the years they'd spent with him wasn't a lie. Selling him out was defiantly out of the question.  
Neither of them went into great detail over the findings. There wasn't a need to stir any emotions, more than they already had. There were many lose ends, finding exactly what they wanted wouldn't be easy. If it were, the council would have had Natsu's head a long time ago.  
"I think this mess goes back much further than Zeref." Levy concluded.  
"Huh? Really, I mean I guess as far as war is concerned, probably. But, it sounds like you mean a different kind of mess." Lucy responded.  
"Once I found out about Natsu. I tried to dig deeper. Like I said there was too many lose ends. Like, it just begins from Zeref's work on the R-Systems and Eclipse. Then jumps to the curse and his demons. Then it just- stops. The last thing mentioned is the birth of the Tartarus 400 years ago then jumps again about 300 years to the Spriggan 12. I mean aside from records of replacements. There's nothing." She finished in a confused tone.  
"That does seem strange. But, in a way it makes sense." Makarov spoke solemnly.  
'Why gramps?' Gray asked.  
Levy interjected, "Because if I found it, I'm sure someone else did the same and like me, they've tampered with it when they finished." She sighed, "Only it seems what they deemed to be worth hiding was different to me. I wanted to hide anything that tied Natsu to it. But, these lose ends go outside that. Meaning someone was onto something. Something _real_."  
"So we might have a problem.' Natsu interrupted, 'Not that I can't handle myself or anything" he mumbled hoping no one heard him.  
Levy smiled, "The war between Ishgal and Alvarez goes much further back. Like a couple of hundred years before Zeref. I found documents listing all of the Fiore soldier squadrons from 400 years ago." Her tone became serious, "They were all dragon slayers. Sadly I can tell it's been heavily tampered with. But I managed find something involving one of the soldiers. I couldn't find a name." She paused.  
"So what was important about this, they killed a dragon or something?" Cana spoke up, hugging her barrel of Ale looking sceptical.  
"It was the beginning of the black dragon. They actually celebrated. He could have changed the course of the war. Well he did. Just not the way they hoped. This was all before Zeref was even born." She stopped.  
They could work out the rest of what she was implying. The black mage really didn't have anything to do with Acnologia _._ The name put everyone at unease. Even more so if he could turn into a human whenever he pleased. He could be right here and they wouldn't know, until it's too late.  
Levy glanced at Natsu, he was beside himself, despite trying to put on a brave face. She could tell it was hurting him. Especially since he had the information but then resorted back to having amnesia.  
"There was one more piece. I'm not sure what it meant exactly. The only book I could find was written in something that I'm not even sure is a language. I could maybe translate the title." Her speech slowed as it bothered her that she couldn't figure out the language out.  
"Do what you can" Erza reassured.  
"Yeah. Even though I haven't the slightest clue how to decipher it."  
'I'M SURE YOU CAN DO IT LEVY-SAN!' Jet and Droy shouted behind her, in their ever-so-supportive-way.  
"Whatever it is, I think it's a story judging from the formatting. It almost looks like a children's book, an old one mind you. Hmm." She studied what appeared to be the title for a while, " _The Burning Girl"_ She pondered.

"AH! Pieces! That's all I have! PIECES!" Lucy shouted, causing Natsu and Happy to fully be awake and alert if they weren't already.  
"Calm down, it's better than nothing. We'll find something." Gray also startled by the break of silence.  
Lucy slammed her head onto the table, causing sheets of paper to flutter onto the floor.  
"We've been at this for hours" she moaned, "Still. Nothing. I hope Levy is getting somewhere with that book." Lucy mumbled with her forehead pressed against the table.  
She turned her head to the side and looked at Natsu, who was trying to prevent himself from falling asleep in Lucy's bed, research wasn't his strong point. How in the hell he ran a guild, a demon one at that, was beyond them.  
"Are you sure you can't remember anything? Maybe dreams or something?" Happy intervened.  
"If I could I would have told you." Natsu sighed with a sense of guilt. "Trust me it's painful watching you all right now.'  
"I'd have to agree with flame brain on that one. We're getting nowhere, and I think we're all starting to get tired. Maybe we should take a break. And I don't mean for a few hours. Maybe we could get some sleep then take a job. Clear our heads." Gray suggested.  
"You're right. A few days could do us good. Now that I think about it my rents nearly due, I could do with some money right now." Lucy gave a cringe-like smile at the thought of the old hag demanding her money, that woman would never forget.  
"So it's settled. We'll get some sleep then take a job for a few days. Hopefully we might achieve something after that. And maybe Wendy and Carla can help us too when they've finished on their job" Ezra ex-quipped into a bath towel. It seemed she'd already decided to sleep at Lucy's. Of course the blonde was used to it now.

* * *

 _Natsu…  
Wake up.  
Can you hear me?  
It's okay I'm right here, I'm not leaving.  
Stay with me.  
Natsu…  
_Natsu jolted himself awake. He was on the train heading back to Magnolia from the job they'd taken. It was a simple job. Take out some bandits on the outskirts of a village, but of course, they may have caused more damage to the village than the bandits ever did. It _was_ Fairy Tail after all. Even the villagers expected that much. They still got their reward and helped rebuild some of the houses they destroyed, so they took a day or two longer than planned. But that gave Levy more time. Overall, it may have been for the better.  
Next to Natsu was a sick and sleeping Wendy. He felt bad, since the dragons had gone Wendy got motion sickness too, but the small mage insisted she'd cast troia on Natsu. He tried to convince her he'd be fine. But she'd already done her work.  
It made him a little sad too. It made him think that Grandeeney cast troia on her. The fact that Wendy got sick reminded him that they'd really left this time. The dragons were gone. But, he'd believe that they were still watching from afar. That thought helped him through it all.  
Opposite him was Gray, who'd noticed Natsu's sudden awake and gave him a concerned glance.  
Natsu looked at him, then swiftly turned his head to look out the window. He knew what Gray was about to ask, "I'm fine" he muttered.  
Of course Gray wasn't convinced, "Like I believe that. You had a bad dream didn't you?"  
"Jeez, you make it sound like I'm a kid. I'm fine. Just tired." He could feel the troia spell wearing off and they still had two more hours left. He hoped that he could hold out.  
"You wanna talk about it?" Gray pushed on.  
After everything that's happened Gray had started to revert back to what he did when they were kids. Only now he didn't have to sneak behind Natsu on a job. They were a team these days. Although he's still have to start a fight to get answers out of him. Yet, Natsu looked tired and not in the mood for a fight. Wendy was still asleep and the others were getting some drinks from the small store on the train.  
Gray was on his own with this one.  
"I-It's fine." He repeated.  
Gray became frustrated, "Natsu!" he wasn't taking chances with this, believing that Natsu would tell them if he remembered anything. But, at the same time, despite his brave face, he could see Natsu was scared.  
"I don't remember okay. Like I don't remember anything. Just drop it." His tone changed. He knew he was having odd dreams, but he could never remember what they were when he woke up. It made him feel weak.  
He ignored the request, "This isn't new is it?" he may have been pushing Natsu too much and like Natsu said, he doesn't know anything. But that didn't matter, he wasn't just some broken tool, he was family and Natsu still clearly needed some looking after.  
"It doesn't matter. I mean no it's not. It's just-" Natsu stuttered, he really was starting to feel tired, maybe he'd used his magic too much. That couldn't be it could it? He was starting to become pale. Suddenly he found it difficult to keep his eyes open.  
 _Natsu?  
Natsu?  
_"Natsu?" Gray's voice grew with worry.  
He rested his head against the window and closed his eyes drifting off into a heavy sleep.  
"Hey Natsu?!"  
 _Natsu…  
_ "Hey wake up!" Gray leant towards him and shook him gently.  
 _Hey wake up!  
NATSU!  
_Startled, Natsu sat up, realizing he was in a bed. When he looked around he suddenly noticed where he was. It'd been a while, but it hadn't changed much.  
It was Gray's house.  
"What th-"  
Gray walked in, "Finally, you're awake." He sounded relieved.  
"Ye-yeah. Why didn't you just wake me? And why am I in your house?"  
"I tried, we all did. Actually I wouldn't say you fell asleep, you more- passed out. You're here because Lucy's place is filled with research, as is the guild." Gray spoke.  
"Heh. Am I that pathetic now." Natsu mumbled to himself.  
Gray looked at him, he didn't look like Natsu anymore. He was falling apart, in fact the pink haired boy looked like he was going to break down into tears at any moment. He couldn't take anymore, and knowing that he's got everyone worried about him made him feel worse.  
"You're not pathetic Natsu. You're the last person I should be reminding what family is. You don't need to fight all the time you know. I'm not saying give up either." He exasperated, "Just let us fight for you for a while. You're handling this better than I would, but you're pushing yourself too much." Gray walked into the kitchen and begun making two cups of tea.  
"Sorry, I didn't mean-" Natsu was cut off with Lucy and Wendy storming through the front door.  
"Natsu-san!" Wendy sounded overjoyed, running over to him and hugging him, "We were worried."  
"Oh calm down child. He's only been asleep for a few hours." Carla piped up behind her.  
"I'm glad to see you finally woke up." Lucy smiled.  
Natsu looked down, "Sorry" He felt ashamed that he didn't even have the ability to act himself anymore. He was tired, but not the kind that sleep can cure.  
Lucy frowned, "Levy managed to decrypt book a little. But it seems to be in chapters and each chapter is a different language of sorts, so it's going to take a while. But I've translated the first chapter here." She said happily, changing the subject.  
"Is it going to help us?" Gray asked.  
"I'm not sure. If Levy's right, we might end up with a real history lesson when we're done. We might even be able to finally end all this. Yet, we need to know everything we can before jumping to conclusions." She paused to ponder, "As the title implied it's about a girl, she seems to be unnamed. Although it states she was abandoned as a child and ended up in a travelling circus." She paused. "I want to believe it will be like a children's story and end happily, but stories from 400 years ago were often written from real events and they wanted children to learn from reality. Like the _Key to the Starry Heavens_."  
"So it won't be happily ever after?" Natsu sighed, he was getting bored of this tragedy crap, "Damn I was in the mood for something happy." Natsu spoke sarcastically. It wasn't his appearance that made the others know he wasn't okay, it was uncharismatic change of tone. "So, does it point to anywhere we can look?" he asked.  
"Yeah, there's a place it talks about. I think my mother told me about it before. I don't know its full story though, only what's written here. The girl was taken to be the Kings entertainer for years." Lucy stated.  
Wendy followed, "They prevented her from using any magic, yet they weren't even sure if she could even use magic, and threw her in a giant bird cage of sorts. She had to put on a performance for the King and his rich subjects. The others looked into it and apparently it's possible that such a place is located in Bosco."  
"Let me guess, we're the ones going there?" Natsu frowned.  
"AYE!" Happy flew in, with Erza strolling behind him. The blue cat then flew towards Natsu landing on his lap. He promised Natsu he wouldn't worry about him and he'd always believe he'd be okay. Happy acting his normal way cheered him up a little, causing him to let out a small smile.  
"We better get going then." Erza settled.


	7. Flames 2

The man shouted, clinging onto the leather rope, "Again!"  
The tanned girl sat up from the dusty floor. Her world was only made of chairs and walls that were broken up through each bar of her cage. They called it entertainment. She called it hell.

It'd been years, or at least it felt that way. The days and months all merged into each other. 4 days of performance, 4 days of making a new performance, 1 day rest, then repeat. The same thing day in day out. 1 single mistake and she was punished. Of course they only whip her where the marks can be hidden. The King wanted her to remain 'pretty' as he placed it. Or in other words, they could do what they wanted. If no one could see the damage, then nothing had happened to her.  
She hated that word, pretty. It reminded her that she was in fact a girl, around 15, she can't say for sure. What's more is she was in Ishgal. She didn't belong here. Her home was a whole ocean away.

"GET UP YOU LAZY BITCH!" The guard was readying the whip again.  
She smirked, "Okay calm down, give a girl a break would ya!"  
She always liked to test the men's patience. That was her entertainment. Even if it meant being whipped. It didn't hurt anymore. Her body had grown numb to physical pain. It was the other things they did. No matter how many times it happened. The things the King and higher ups didn't know about, but probably wouldn't care even if they did. As long as she looked innocent, she was innocent. If the scars were hidden, nobody cared. Her mind was starting to grow numb too.  
Even if her eyes, drained of colour, told a dark story, her eyes and voice are that of a beggars in the street. Invisible and silent. Only a few would hear the story of those deep set green eyes. Yet, that few were in the same position, helpless.  
Humanity did not exist within these walls.

Her next performance was in front of the Ishgalian King and his most loyal subjects. Later she'd do the same performance in another cage on stage for the whole kingdom to see. It was the only time she could be happy, despite her surroundings and situation. The foreign girl was able to lose herself in the emotion of dance and the chilling music that accompanied her.  
The King always applauded her, followed with an echo of hands clapping. In spite of everything the old bastard had good taste in the arts. Of course, the emotion of the dance he saw wasn't the same as what she actually portrayed. Then again art is an individual interpretation.  
The cage didn't just lock her away. It locked away everything tied to her. And it was her heart in the centre, never to be reached.

"Well done! Well done! You never fail me girl!" He bellowed with his peers behind him, smiling.  
Were some even crying?  
Ha! Don't tell me some of you actually have emotions under those cold fucking eyes and fake smiles. Don't tell me you can see my pain. Why won't you help me? Help us?! I shouldn't be here you fuckers! You damn well know it. I'm not some exotic animal! Get me out!  
Unsurprisingly, when she's not dancing nobody pays attention to her. She becomes invisible once more.  
You'll pay. Every. Last. One.

Later that day, when the sun began to fall, people gathered to the main city of Crocus. The black haired girl wasn't the only one who was to be put on show for the entertainment of the people. There were others. Others like her who had been forcefully taken from their native lands, stripped of everything they held dear. They had nowhere to run back to, nowhere to think of. All was left was of them was an empty shell, a hollow show, for the people of these sickened foreign lands to admire.  
But, the people didn't know this. They didn't know that they're locked in cages. Like birds that have been stripped of their elegant feathers and pride to suit its masters. To fit their ideas of perfection. Or rather they ignored this for the sake of beauty.  
She pitied the people for their ignorance. How would they act if they realized that these pretty little birds they view, are only a quarter of their former selves? That what they call elegant and beautiful doesn't even come close to what they once were. True elegance lies with freedom. These people don't know what freedom is, but they've never been born to know any different. To them freedom is money and that money would buy happiness. It only buys a temporary happiness.

Today was different. This kingdom was having a festival, one they have every May to welcome in the summer and warmth. The warmth she'd long forgotten. The festival of fire. Tonight would be long.  
The sun was beginning to set and lanterns were being lit up around the city, becoming the starts of the night sky. Most of the performances were over. Her dance was one of the last. She didn't actually have a name, she was always just Girl or an array of other demining things to the masters. However, during her performances she was known as, Bird of Paradise or Phoenix with her exotic look and fiery dances. The King couldn't afford to lose her. A month before such a festival, regardless of what she did, the men could only hurt her verbally even if they could hide the marks. That was when she really tested them. If they hurt her, even if the mark could be hidden, they were punished. The king wanted total physical perfection.

She danced into the night with her shimmering long, black hair trailing after her, trapped in its own dance. Like always she lost herself in her twisting, calming movements, ignoring the people before her.  
But something stopped her. There was a strange warm air, people started shouting at her, wanting her to dance, throwing food and drink at her which were all deflected by the cage.  
Suddenly, mountains in the distance growled. Silence then fell across the city, the people tensed up. They knew.  
Of all the days, it was here. The Soldiers and mages readied themselves in complete disarray and confusion. It's been years, no of them knew what to do. Training was one thing. But reality was unpredictable.  
The space was changing so drastically that she couldn't even process the situation. But, she knew what was to come and wanted to get out of the cage.  
It was to make this a true fire festival with its judgement, one the Ishgalian King had long been waiting for.  
The people hurried away and soldiers rummaged around with their weapons and shields in slight panic.  
"HEY LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT! HEY! SOMEBODY!" The girl screamed rattling the metal cage door. But, they all ignored her in their fit of panic.  
With the citizens in hiding, or long gone from the city. There was just the soldiers and a few slaves who were trapped in their areas. All but the girl had stopped shouting now, accepting their fate.  
The true King of these lands was about to arrive.  
"READY YOURSELVES MEN!" The lead guard shouted.  
There was drawn silence, tension grew heavy. The only thing she could hear was her own heart beating and her shallow breath. She'd never been so terrified.  
The girl had heard stories, when living in the slums about the true King. Yet she never fully understood them.  
But she was about to learn.  
There was low rumbling, it'd gotten closer. Much closer. In fact it sounded like it was right above them. The main garrison were the first. The buildings were in the way for the girl to see from her cage.  
The silence was broken, "HEY LET ME OUT! IM STILL HERE!" She rattled her cage again. Nobody would hear her though. Then she grew silent. She felt the air get hotter.  
Complete silence across the kingdom.  
She watched the men look up to the cloudy dark skies. Nothing. Yet, they grew nervous. Some even shook in fear.

The nervous silence broke with an ear-deafening screech, which travelled for miles outside the kingdom. What followed in the distance was a blazing fire that screamed out in pain and fear. It was the screams of men. The houses in the distance became painted in oranges, reds and yellows.  
The fire rushed around the city like a golden river.  
Was this the true ruler?  
The city filled with ash and flame, with a stream of wailing echoes.  
Her cage was surrounded by fire, but the bars would not melt regardless of the heat.  
She closed her eyes and sang. In the flow of song she began to follow the dance of fire within her cage. In her ears the sounds around her faded and her world changed with her soft voice and slow movements.  
She felt at peace, she'd dance into death.  
Yet death did not want her.  
Her eyes shot open and her voice ceased by the sound of falling rock and burning wood.  
"Why do I find such a hopeful thing in a place like this?" A low voice growled before her. Yet she saw no man in the display of flame.  
"Who is that? Let me out! PLEASE!" Her spectacle turned to panic. Maybe she wouldn't die here after all.  
"You humans never fail to surprise me. Such a tortured soul and yet you still fight for life. While the rich, the brave run like scared fools. Running into death." It spoke with amusement.  
Suddenly, through the golden flames, the girl saw an eye. A giant eye that resembled a snake. But it was much larger than your average snake and its body resembled a lizard. But it wasn't quite that either. It was a red dragon.

What emerged through the flame was a dragons head, body and eventually a tail. What clasped onto her cage were dragon's talon like claws and feet.  
The girl looked up. Oddly enough she didn't feel terrified. He acknowledged her actions, which was already more than any human did. It was strange to feel reassured by such a being, especially since so many around her lay dead because of it. Was the beast a King? Or guardian?

The dragon smiled, bearing all his giant sharp fangs and asked, "Why do you still persist for life little girl?"  
"Because in this chaos I can escape and live." She responded with confidence.  
The dragon edged his head in closer, amused, "It's chaos now, yet you're still here?"  
"I can't get out. If you break my cage I can, I can get out. I was getting out one way or another." She began to shout in frustration at how oblivious this monster was being.  
"Will you? What makes you think I won't eat you after getting you out?" He grinned devilishly.  
"I will run far and you won't ever catch me. I'm quick, and good at hiding. You won't eat me though. I'm not them, you know that. You seemed to be amused by me Dragon. Why eat something that entertains you?" She smirked thinking she'd won this argument.  
"Something tells me you have a long way to go before your real freedom is found little girl."  
"Getting out of this wretched cage needs to happen first. I can think about that later." She despaired.  
"What's your name child?" He questioned.  
She looked down in shame, "I don't have one" She lived in the slums ever since she could remember and then ended up in this life. She'd always been alone. Always just been called what she is, Child, girl, brat, whore.  
He pondered, "You don't have one? In that case I shall help you find your freedom and when you find what that is I will name you." He glared at her with his giant golden eyes.  
"Why would you help me? You did all this!" She shouted.  
"These people are ignorant. I am the guardian of these lands, I must protect it. Sometimes that means looking beyond you arrogant humans. You don't rule this space like you think you all do." As much shame as it brought her, it was true.  
"So you're a King then? King of what?" She mused.  
"One of Fire."  
One of? Was there more?  
"King of Fire? I've never heard such a ridiculous thing!" She laughed, "And what is your name?" She glared at him with determined eyes. This girl appeared to be much stronger than first made out to be, it surprised the fire dragon.  
"I am the Fire Dragon King, Igneel! Will you come with me child?"  
She nodded leading him to break her cage and steal her away into the night.

* * *

The small child ran as fast as he could through the woods, but his legs were small and the two soldiers were closing up on him.  
"Stop running you little shit!"  
The boy was small and nimble so although he wasn't fast he could weave through the trees better than the two bulky men behind him. He wanted to shout for help, but he was so concentrated on running he couldn't. He knew nobody would come anyway. The men chasing him were soldiers of the King of Ishgal, but that 'King' had just turned his back on his people. Now the dragons were doing whatever they pleased and people stooped to low levels to do whatever they could for survival, whether that be civilians, nobles or soldiers,

The taxes got to high, famine appeared out of the rotted grounds and there was too much collateral. The King was losing wars and so this was supposedly saving them. Maybe it was, but people weren't just dying, they were being butchered. The child ran and ran until he came to a stop. He was cornered. Behind him was the woodland that was getting smaller by the second and two men screaming bloody murder at him, holding their swords cascaded in rotten crimson. In front of him was a dark abyss.

He turned around, pink hair covering his eyes. Suddenly it dawned on him that he was alone.  
"B-big brother?" He was well and truly alone.  
His eyes shot around, all he could see is ash and flame in the distance where his village lay.  
"Mummy?" In front of him were two men clad in the royal armour.  
"You got nowhere to go now brat." One smiled, glaring his brittle yellow teeth through his dull steel helmet.  
The boy edged away briefly forgetting the abyss behind him, but maybe it would be better than whatever these two men would do.  
"Big brother!" He shouted trembling.  
"He ain't comin' you're alone out here. No one will come for a sorry state like you." they jeered. The boy edged back again, sensing the impending doom placed behind him.  
"Natsu!" There was a woman shouting as she ran towards them.  
"Oooh has mummy come to save the day." they laughed again.  
Before they could react there was a ball of fire hurtling towards them setting them aflame, causing nothing but pained screams. Before long they both toppled over the edge in panic and agony.  
"Natsu I told you not to run, I can't keep you safe if I can't see you. Your brother is safe and I want you to join him okay." She walked towards him and hugged him tightly.  
"I'm sorry, I was scared." He sniffled trying to hold back a cry. Something caught her eye. A crack in the ground. Her eyes widened. Before she could react the crack engulfed them.  
"Huh? NATSU!" She screamed as the cliff face began to break away from the land. She went to grab the boy's small hand, but both lost their balance and fell into the darkness.  
Moments passed and the woman awoke. "Ow." Acknowledging where she had ended up she looked around in panic. "Natsu!" She shifted to her feet. Her leg was broken, yet adrenalin had kicked in and she didn't care.  
"Natsu where are you?" As she spoke she could hear something. Coughing. A flame appeared in her hand creating light. A few meters away from her, Natsu was in a heap on the floor, he was choking on his own blood.  
"No. No. No no no no no. Natsu!" There was a cut on the side of his neck, it was deep causing his lungs to fill with blood. "Oh God no." She leaped towards him in panic.  
"Mu-" He spewed blood out of his mouth. His eyes were wide glaring up at her.  
"Shhhh. It's okay. It's okay. _Everything's going to be okay." She cradled him rocking him softly.  
"Do you trust me Natsu?" She asking in a calm voice. The boy looked at her and faintly nodded, trying to hold back the blood in his mouth. "Stay with me. Shhh. You're okay. You're going to be okay. I promise."  
The boys green eyes suddenly drifted away from her face, looking towards to smoky sky that peered at the top of the cliff. He eventually spoken in a faint, broken voice, "Mummy, I'm really- Tired." She could see he was desperately trying to keep his eyes open.  
She tried hard to keep the tears back, "That's okay, you can rest. I'm right here with you."  
"Please don't leave me."  
"I won't."  
"Will you be here when I wake up."  
"I'm not going anywhere."_

* * *

"Heeelllooo. Earth to Natsu? Hey!" Lucy waved her hand in front of his face.  
He leaned away in surprise. "Huh?" Natsu was taken aback by his sudden realisation of daydreaming.  
"We're nearly there idiot." Gray piped up.  
"O-oh" He was confused. Did he sleep? He couldn't even remember boarding the train. Either way they were here. The place was Boscow. A highly run down slum, filled with outlaws, drugs, sex and violence. The place Lucy nearly ended up, but she never imagined how bad this place really was.

Coming here was dangerous for the fairies and yet at the same time it didn't matter. Most people here weren't mages, and knew they were. They also knew it'd be a death wish to challenge them. But, some had a death wish in a place like this. "Is this why you guys convinced Wendy not to come?" Lucy asked. She'd heard rumours of this place, but was realizing now she'd only heard a fraction of how bad this place really was. It was the lowest of the low.  
"Yeah. Despite everything we've been through, Wendy's still a kid. Although Wendy's been through shit kid's shouldn't go through. There's still crap she hasn't seen and for once we all agreed on that." Gray responded in a serious manner with Natsu nodding in the background. Yet, there was some irony of those words coming out of Gray's mouth. God knows what crap he'd already seen by Wendy's age. Not to mention Erza and Natsu.

"We should get moving. It's not smart to linger here and we didn't come here to pick fights. Natsu." Erza glared at him.  
"Why'd you look at me"  
Gray walked up behind her, "Because you're the only idiot who'd get into a fight."  
"You two are just as bad!" Natsu squared up to him.  
"Jeez." Lucy sighed.

They hurried along towards the other edge of town where there was a rundown looking theatre. It was still in use, but it didn't look as prestigious as it once did.  
"This looks welcoming." Lucy muttered.  
"Aye!" Happy fluttered behind her.  
"This place is 400 years old. The last time it was refurbished was 50 years ago, just before this place became a slum. I swear if you two do anything I'll kill both of you. You got that!" The red head turned to the typical culprits who were holding onto each other in fear of death.  
"AYE!" They shouted.

The group walked through the entrance of the rotted place and headed towards the staging area.  
"You know its great n' all coming here but what are we actually looking for?" Natsu asked.  
"I knew you weren't listening." Gray snapped. But, listening or not, deep down he was thinking the same.

Natsu noticed something about the woodwork. Some of it seemed scorched. "Hey when was this place last done again?"  
"About 50 years ago, according to reports. Why?" Erza replied.  
"Was there anything about it being burnt? After that I mean?" He persisted.  
"Not that I know of. But, it did mention something about the refurbishment was only done to a standard in which it wouldn't fall down. They couldn't afford more than that. So, really these walls and everything are 400 years old." She continued.  
"What's got you so interested anyway?" Lucy intervened.  
"The wood's burnt." Natsu mumbled. Something about it felt, familiar.  
"Well don't get any ideas about finishing it off." Gray smirked.  
"I wasn't thinking anything, it just seems odd. Like it doesn't look like it was a small fire every bit of wood is either completely ash or black and I know it's not paint." He spoke in confusion.  
There was nothing about a fire was in any reports. "Could this have been done after the last report was made. I mean it was 5 years ago." Lucy pondered. Although, they all seemed more bewildered that it was Natsu who noticed and that it hadn't even occurred to any of them.  
"That is a little odd. I don't think the reports mention anything about a serious fire. Besides, this seems old now that I look at it. Much older than 5 years." Erza paused.  
"What happened here?"

It was evident that the theatre was falling apart. It was over 400 years old and the people of this world gave up caring for it years ago, and yet, the place was stubborn. It still have life. A story to tell.  
"A little odd is an understatement." Lucy blurted out.  
"Yeah. I mean, Natsu here was the one to notice" Gray smirked looking at the pyro who was clearly a few seconds away from killing him.  
"Hey! What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Natsu walked over to Gray getting ready to punch him. He knew what he was getting at, he just wanted to clarification.  
Erza glared at them, "You two pack it in right now!" the two to hugged each other in fear.  
"Aye!" In unison they spoke, trembling.  
"Now, start looking for anything that will give us any indication of anything!" She demanded.  
"Um, I don't mean to be a pessimist, but this place is old and pretty much placed in the centre of a land overrun by outlaws. Are we really going to find anything?" Lucy questioned.  
"What's being a pest got to do with anything?" Natsu once again wasn't listening.  
"Idiot" Gray sighed.  
"Hey I'm not an idiot!"  
"Guys! Start looking!" Erza shouted.

The three mages started scrambling around the place, with Happy fluttering calmly behind them.  
"Aww, I forgot my fish." Happy spoke up after a while of searching through the scorched remnants of the building.  
"Hey cat! You're not helping at all!" Lucy replied throwing an old can she found on the floor and nearly hitting him.  
His stomach growled at her response, "Natsuuuu Lucy's being mean again." He expected a response, but when he turned around there wasn't a single sight of the pink haired mage in sight.  
"Huh? Natsu?" Lucy swivelled around, he wasn't anywhere to be seen in the main hall.  
"You two quit dawdling around we need to find what we can quickly. I don't want to hang around this place any longer than we need to." Erza commanded.  
The two ignored her in confusion as to where Natsu had gone. This was a theatre, there weren't many places to go, and nearly every floor board creaked. Yet the place was silent aside from the noise being made from those still in sight.  
"Guys what's wrong? Did you find something?" Gray asked, noticing their confused silence.  
"W-where's Natsu?" Lucy asked, as she began turning around looking at everything she possibly could from where she was stood.  
"Natsu? He's rig- What?" Gray turned around to see nothing other than a red headed knight stood behind him, "He was here?" He was by one of the exits, if anyone (especially Natsu and his florescent hair) had left, he would have noticed.  
Erza looked puzzled, "That's odd. I could have sworn I just saw him. Maybe he went to check one of the rooms behind the stage."  
"But they're all locked, and you said you didn't want anyone to break anything unless we had to." Lucy stated.  
"Oi Natsu! Quit screwing around!" Gray felt uneasy about the sudden absence. This place wasn't safe and Natsu's mental state was poor, no matter how well he tried to hide it. They couldn't take him being out of sight lightly.

Erza decided to break down the locked door leading backstage. They would have known if Natsu went there, but it was possible there was another way they didn't see and for now it seemed like the only idea they had. But also they still needed find what they could about the place, as well as now trying to find Natsu who was still giving them no response. It was clear he wasn't messing around.  
"I didn't really want to do that. The place is already falling apart." Erza stared at down the long, dark corridor. There were a few doors, some already broken, others fixed in place and were likely to also be locked.  
"Well something was going to break with us around." Lucy mumbled.  
"Natsu where are you?' Happy shouted.  
Silence.  
"I'm going to look around here for anything about this place, Lucy you can help. Gray and Happy I want you to check the other rooms and find Natsu. He can't have gone far." Erza persisted.  
"Why do I ha- Never mind" He looked at the Happy who was looking down at the floor with worry. Erza had decided and arguing would just waste time. He needed to find Natsu fast, something wasn't right.  
Gray patted the cat on the head, "don't worry we'll find him. Then I'm going to beat the crap out of him for making us worry." Happy was actually a little relieved to hear that, it sounded just like Gray and the normality comforted him.

"Ow. Ahhh. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. Ahhh. Make it stop. Please. It hurts. Please. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help–" Natsu grovelled on the floor in a ball. 'Can't… brea–"  
Everything went pitch black, as he tried crawling on the cold hard wooden flooring gasping for air.  
"–Hurts. It hurts. Help me. Help me. Help me–"  
He started to cough. After a while he began choking on something. Liquid eventually started splattering out of his mouth, it wasn't blood. It was black.  
But then it stopped. The pain from his head went and all he was left with was black ooze draping from his mouth onto the wooden flooring.  
Natsu stood up and wiped away the ooze from his mouth. He was delusional as he looked around in a haze, "W-why. Uhh. Where. What?" he couldn't seem to function properly and found it difficult to form a sentence.  
Natsu slowly stood up, but grew dizzier and fell back to the floor. He looked up and noticed shimmers of light peering through the ceiling, judging from the creepy props around him it was possible he was under the stage. But, there was no hole in the celling so he didn't fall through.  
He had no idea how he got here.  
"Ow!" His head started to throb causing him to keel over onto the floor and pass out.


	8. Flames 3

Gray heard a clatter at the end of the hallway.  
"Gray." Happy tugged on Ice wizard's leg.  
"Natsu?" He slowly approached the sound.  
There was a loud bang, followed with an echo of excessive coughing.  
Gray sprinted towards the door and kicked it down, he knew it was Natsu. He noticed that they were underneath the stage. The room was dimly lit, but off to the side he saw Natsu curled up on the floor in agony with black substance trailing from his mouth.  
"N-Natsu!" He ran over and kneeled next to him easing his head up. The coughing has ceased but, his breathing was unsteady and his body temperature had started to rise alarmingly even for Natsu.  
"Hey wake up!" Gray shook him. Given the obvious physical state Natsu was in, he wasn't expecting him to wake up, but some sort of response would be reassuring.  
Natsu shuddered at Gray's voice and sheepishly opened his eyes. "G-ray?" His voice was raspy and broken, "I feel cold" his body started to shake.  
"Hey! Try and stay awake. How did you get here, the door was locked?" Maybe asking so many questions probably wasn't a good idea.  
"I– I. Uhh. I don't– know. Why– why is it. Cold?' He'd begun to cough again.  
Gray rubbed his back to try and encourage Natsu to sit up, with the feeble hope that it would ease his breathing. However, it only provoked his stomach to regurgitate more of that mysterious black mass that was the source of his pain. "Uhh. I really– don't feel. Well." Natsu's broken speech only worried Gray and Happy further.  
Happy wanted to help his friend, "Natsu." He had no idea what to do, "I'll get the others."  
Gray continued gently rubbing his back. This situation has become a regular occurrence to Gray in the past few weeks. Natsu started to look less pale and had calmed down a little, but he was still weary.  
"You think you can stand?" He looked at Natsu who looked tired and possible on the verge of passing out again.  
"I-I think so." He made some effort to stand with Gray's help. He could stand, but only just, walking was another thing however.  
After a few minutes of trying to orientate himself, Natsu gradually starting walking with Gray as support. With Natsu starting to look more like himself, they headed for the hallway. There could be something in there, but it was too dim and Natsu wasn't using his magic anytime soon.  
"Do you remember how you got in here?" He asked.  
"No. The last thing I remember was being in the main hall with you guys. Then suddenly I'm here, my head hurt and you were shaking me." He spoke quietly, it seemed that his vocal chords had taken some damage.  
Natsu noticed Gray's concern, "Hey, don't worry about me. I'll be fine." He coughed again. But, Gray was finding it hard to believe Natsu's words considering his current state. He knew himself he wasn't going to be okay for a while. But, he was determined to fix his brothers mess no matter what, so he had to be okay.

They slowly walked down the corridor and before long the others had come to join them.  
"Natsu! Are you okay!" Erza demanded as she and Lucy ran towards them. Happy flew into his friend trying not to cry with worry. No matter how hard he could try, Natsu couldn't convince them he was fine.  
"What happened? Are you okay?!" Lucy repeated.  
"I'm fine–"  
"He's not fine." Gray cut him off. "I found him underneath the stage."  
They began to look worried, now that they were close enough they started to notice how sick Natsu looked.  
"Do you remember how you got there?" Lucy asked.  
Natsu became frustrated with the questions, "No" He started to waver again, and they could see that. If it wasn't for Gray he'd already be on the floor by now. But, he was sick of them constantly worrying about him, he wanted to be left alone.  
Erza took note of his demeanour and backed off, "We might have found something. But, we should head back to the hotel. I get the feeling we're being watched" Erza proclaimed rather ominously.  
Natsu suddenly passed out. Gray managed to catch him before he hit the floor, "He's exhausted." he started to lift him up onto his back.  
"Let's head back before someone finds us here." Lucy was worried more about Natsu's condition and this place creeped her out.

The group headed back to the hotel and got Natsu into bed.  
"You shouldn't worry about me, I'm fi–" He murmured in his sleep.  
"His temperature has gone down a little, but I think he might be asleep for a while." Lucy spoke softly, as she sat on the edge of the bed placing a cold cloth on his forehead.  
"Well he was sick quite a bit. Although I still don't know what that black stuff even was." Gray responded.  
"'Maybe there's something in that room." Happy added, "We should go look." He was determined to make Natsu better again.  
"We could, but it's too dark so well need to take a light with us next time. Speaking of–' Gray turned to Erza, "you guys said you'd found something?"  
"Yeah a book. Well a diary really. The covers scorched and I can tell there are some pages missing. But it might help." Lucy replied grabbing the diary out of her bag.  
"What makes it useful?' Happy pondered.  
"Well aside from the oddness of finding a diary in such a place. All the entry's haves dates, and those dates go back to 400 years ago. I guess it was put away with other books and files and was eventually forgotten about. Luckily it's managed to hold onto life a little longer and maybe give us answers of what happened." Lucy stated.  
She opened it up carefully before continuing, "What's more, is that going from what Levy has managed to translate so far from the children's tale and what's written in here. I think. I think this might be the girl from the story."  
"Wait seriously?' Gray was surprised, "You mean that the story could actually be true?"  
"That or someone's screwing with us. But, I can't see that happening." Lucy yawned, just seeing Natsu asleep made her tired.  
Erza concluded, "As far as what we initially came here for is concerned I think we have all we need. But, I think we should take up Happy's idea of checking out that room."  
"Yeah. We can go look tomorrow. I'm pretty beat." Gray's clothes were off and he was already in bed.

* * *

"Ah. Someone! Anyone!" The heavy breathing was making it difficult to shout.  
The small boy ran and ran for what felt like hours. The soldiers were catching up. Fast.  
"Haaa. Help!" The boy screamed.  
"No one's here boy. Mummy can't save you." The man laughed as he ran behind him.  
The boy was backed into a corner. Right behind him was a steep drop and in front of him were two large, armoured men holding giant, bloodied swords.  
The moments that followed we a blur. Everything happened so quickly.  
Then there was a whisper by his ear, "Natsu stay with me. Please. No." His mother was with him. She cradled and soothed him to ease the pain.  
"It's okay. Mummy's here with you." She gently rocked him.  
"W-Where's–" He started coughing up blood. "Big broth-er" He could barely speak as the iron tasting substance filled up his throat.  
"Don't worry he's safe. Don't talk okay. Just stay with me." She knew it was pointless. The side of his neck was cut open and it wouldn't be long before his lungs would be overwhelmed with blood.  
"Shhhh, it's okay Natsu. It's okay sweetheart." She continued rocking.  
"Mumm-y" everything was going heard her let out a piercing scream.  
"You promised me! You promised me you fuck!" She screamed. "Igneel. Why? Why? Why? Why?" She continued on. "You promised me." The tears began to take a hold of her, "You promised me, you would protect him." That was the last thing he heard.

"Huh?" Natsu opened his eyes. It took a while but he soon realized that he was back at the hotel. He looked around the room, Lucy was on the floor with her head rested on the edge of Natsu's bed. He smiled at seeing her, feeling oddly reassured. Happy was in a ball next to where his head had been. Gray was in his own bed. While Erza had fallen asleep on the floor, with her head rested on a small pillow and an open book in her hand.  
Now that he thought about it, he vaguely remembered them saying they found something. He figured he must have passed out again which didn't comfort him much, but knowing they were still with him calmed him. Erza was soon to wake up after Natsu stumbled out of bed, avoiding waking Happy and Lucy up and somehow pulling it off.  
But he was startled by Erza suddenly sitting up, "I didn't mean–"  
"Don't worry you didn't wake me." She stopped him, smiling softly. It was the first time for a while that Natsu looked, _normal?_ It was a little odd actually. Even when Natsu was doing okay enough to take some jobs, he still looked a little off and would tire easily after using a small amount of magic.  
Erza's smile turned to concern, "Do you feel okay?" She stood up to get a better look at him. He looked normal.  
"Um. Y-Yeah. What are you doing?" He was confused by Erza's reaction.  
"Eh?" Erza quickly realized how close she was too his face and backed off. "Um n-nothing." She flustered.  
Yet, even still after everything that happed. Especially yesterday. Was okay for Natsu to suddenly look like his normal self? All he did was sleep for a few hours. And he's, okay? As grateful as she was to see her best friend looking healthy for the first time since the came back to Magnolia, it can't be this easy. Can it?  
"Are you. Are you sure?" She wasn't convinced.  
Natsu began to understand why Erza looked so confused. "Yeah. I think" He didn't really know what to say. But he responded with the same confused tone as the red head, letting her know that he thought it was strange as well. "Yeah." He repeated himself. He felt like he was lying. But, he really wasn't. He felt fine. No tiredness. No headaches. No sickness. Fine. Perfect. Oddly so.  
It was then that Gray and, swiftly after, Lucy woke up to this awkward conversation.  
"Morning? What's up with you two?" Lucy raised her eyebrows.  
"Did you guys give me something?" Natsu ignored her question.  
"What the hell are you talking about?" Gray was still waking up, questions like this was not what he needed first thing in the morning.  
"I shouldn't feel fine should I?" Lucy and Gray looked at him blankly, before realizing what he was getting at, they were half awake so they'd not really processed that Natsu was standing in the room perfectly healthy.  
"Well it's great that you do." She got up and walked over to him, "You look fine." Lucy was ignoring the obviousness of which Natsu was implying. This was the first decent thing they've had in weeks. Not to mention to part where they found something to help with the search for answers. She didn't really care of the reason, she probably should, but she didn't, Natsu was Natsu again and that was all that mattered.  
Happy then woke up, "Natsu!" without question flew into him and hugged him tightly.  
"Hey. I didn't mean to worry you. I told you I'd be okay." He wasn't so sure about the statement. Yet, was okay telling the others that being miraculously fine wasn't normal. But, they could handle that. Happy was a different matter.  
Natsu had raised Happy from an egg and was responsible for him. He wasn't really a fatherly figure. More of a big brother. He felt that although Happy should have his back, he shouldn't be worrying about him or looking after him. Natsu didn't really want anybody doing that. But he needed to be realistic and listen to the ice freak for once. But, Happy isn't doing that. Natsu is supposed to look after him not the other way around.

The group got ready and set out to the theatre again to check where they found Natsu. They didn't intend to stick around long, especially since the townspeople were starting to notice their snooping around, as well as starting to notice who they were. It was only a matter of time before someone picked a fight with them. They were Fairy Tail member after all, they were renowned for fighting.  
"Well since you seem to be better. Do you think you can remember anything?" Gray asked.  
Natsu tried to think, but his mind drew a blank, "Honestly before waking up this morning that last thing I remember was entering that creepy place yesterday." It hadn't really dawned on him until now that nearly an entire day had passed, which worried him now because apparently he was awake for some of it.  
Gray was worried but decided that he wouldn't show it, he sensed it was bugging Natsu and he wouldn't blame him, "Stop thinking you make it look painful."  
"Hey you asked idiot!" Natsu snapped.  
"Pack it in you guys. People are starting to get suspicious." Erza was getting ready to bang their heads together.  
They rushed towards the theatre and headed straight for the room underneath the stage.

"Now that I think about it. Isn't it strange to have a room underneath the stage?" Happy asked.  
Lucy replied, "Not really. Since performances would use trapdoors."  
Natsu glanced at her, "Since when were you a theatre expert?"  
"It's common knowledge, well for someone who cares about the arts. Besides my mum used to take me to shows as a kid. So I guess I am an expert."  
Erza diverted back to the original question, "Normally I'd agree. But there's no sign of a trapdoor anywhere. This just looks like a normal room. They might have used it as storage. But, there's already a storage area." Erza held the lantern to the rooms ceiling to check she was right about the trapdoors. She was of course.  
"That is odd." Lucy pondered.  
"H-hey. Is that. A bed?" Gray looked to the corner of the room. There was in fact a bed. It didn't look like a prop either. Like everything else in the room, the bed was rusty and clearly old.  
"What's a bed doing here? Are those chains?" Natsu looked at the bed stand. Or what was left of it. There was a shiny metal object hanging from it. It was a set of chains that seemed to be in perfect condition.  
"They look new." Erza walked over and picked them up. "No. These aren't new." She studied them closely. "They're magic cancelling chains. They don't rust." She put them down, trying to forget the horrible memories she had with such chains.  
"How do you know they aren't new?" Gray asked.  
"Because like most they have the date they were made on them. It says X315. I read some of that diary last night and the same year is written in it." She hesitated to say any more, causing everyone to reach the same conclusion about the room.  
This wasn't a bedroom or a storage area.  
This was a prison.  
"I think people are coming. We should leave." Natsu's ears pricked up. The townspeople were on to them.  
"But we didn't fi–" Lucy was cut off by a loud bang.  
"Oi Fairy Tail. I know you're in 'ere" it was a man's voice.  
"There's a back entrance. I don't want to start a fight. Not in a place like this, it'll only aggravate things. We can't afford any trouble with the council right now." Erza whispered.

 _March 2_ _nd_ _X392_

 _How anyone could follow such a man I don't know, he doesn't even hide his arrogance. But, the things they do doesn't bother me anymore because their time will come. It seems this book and pen was a gift from that arrogant fuck they all worship like a God, he's barley a King. But he's please his precious exotic girl came back to him. I fed his some crap about how I couldn't make a living outside and I enjoyed dancing._

 _They still whip me. Beat me and fuck me. But, they can keep doing that. They don't know what's coming. They're stupid to believe my story, I mean it's been two years and they still buy that I tried to live for two years and then come back to a life in chains and to dance in a cage like an exotic bird._

 _But, it's okay. I will have my revenge. I will give them a dance.  
A swan song.  
You can put a dragon in chains, throw it in a cage and tell it to perform. It will perform. But it'll be the last thing you see. You only see a dragons dance once.  
I'll give you your last dance.  
He promised me._

"That sounds ominous" Lucy read it back in her head.  
"I only really read that page. I must have fallen asleep." Erza looked down at the book. "I wonder who 'he' is though."  
"I wonder who 'she' is. It's the first entry too. I wonder what happened before that." Lucy questioned. "It doesn't sound happy."  
She continue, "She mentioned a fire, I wonder if she was talking about the theatre?"  
"I'm not so sure, but I think it could piece together with the book Levy's translating. And if we keep reading I'm sure we'll find out." Erza replied.  
"I don't think my stomach wants to be in me anymore." Natsu was hunched over his seat.  
"You better not throw up on me. I've dealt with enough of that in the past few weeks." Gray had no sympathy when it came to Natsu's motion sickness. Mainly because it was normal, and normal was good. "I preferred it when you were too tired to do anything."  
"It's not. My fault. Uhhhh. Are we nearly there?" He squeezed his stomach. It felt more painful than usual, but he didn't want to say that to the others, they'd worried enough about him.  
"Another half an hour and we'll be home. Just bear with it a little longer." Erza reassured.  
"Jeez you need to get a grip on this." Gray knew it was hard on him, but he also knew that sometimes pissing Natsu off served as a good distraction for his motion sickness.  
Of course it wasn't working, "I think I'm gonna be sick."  
"You better not pyro!" Gray who was sat opposite him lifted his feet up to avoid the inevitable.  
"We're nearly there Natsu!" Happy was sat next to him patting his leg gently.


	9. Flames 4

**AN: After request I have spaced out the dialogue a little, I'm not fond of it but I realize on fanfic the font isn't the best for stuff like this so it is a little difficult to read. Anyways hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

 _This needs to be perfect. One fuck up and I won't have my revenge. I need to get home, there's people waiting for me. I told them I wouldn't be long. They need me. But, they need a world to live in first. A good one._

"Hey bitch! Start practising! The show is tomorrow you shit!" The man whipped her again, she didn't flinch.

It's been two years since that Igneel helped the girl escape this wretched place. But, they've rebuilt. Prospered in fact. The dragon's war broke out, people are suffering, and people are fighting. People vs. People. People vs. Dragon. Dragon vs. Dragon.

 _You all make me sick_. _Look at them. These fat fuckers still sit on their pathetic thrones, surrounded by food, whores and gold. This war is opening up new opportunities for them so they can make even more money from the poor. They're the only ones who actually see money these days._

Not even the soldiers get pay. Unless they're a dragon slayer. But to cope they act even worse than they used to, if that was even possible, towards the slaves and even civilians.  
The show was tomorrow and somehow the girl had managed to persuade the King that she needed something to make it unforgettable. Sand to be scattered on the floor of the rustic giant bird cage. The King agreed with it. He was in for a treat.

The jester came up to the stage, "Welcome! Welcome all! The King has a treat for us today!" The crowd cheered. "Now I'm sure you all remember the tragedy that was two years ago. We lost family, friends and some of our most beloved performers. But today we have an exquisite show for you, and honour to them."

The people in the crowd looked at the presenter with anticipation and confusion upon hearing these words.

"She was a spectre. A dancer. A bird of Paradise! We loved her truly as she swept us away into her world." The crowd fell silent, they were like putty in his hands, putty she was about to steal.

"That paradise perished in the flames. But, the Bird. Oh that bird came back to her nest. She shed those feathers and became anew!" The curtains lifted up behind him as he pranced around the stage, "Tonight my people, we have a show you won't forget. Our paradise has returned to us from the ashes, to show us a new world. I present to you. The phoenix!"

The cage appeared with the girl at the centre. Most of the people hadn't forgotten and cheered. They then fell silent upon the musicians queue.  
She danced like nothing anyone had ever seen. The sand scattered around when she kicked, jumped, swerved and crawled. The crowd were captivated in awe.

 _I've got you now._

"It seems someone had practise in these two years. I've never seen a dance quite like it. She's gotten creative too." The King whispered to his eldest son.

"She's grown to be something. For a whore." He smirked.

Moments passed. The girl danced and danced with the sand flowing with her movements. In an array of movements she was hanging from her feet at the roof of the cage. Her face was covered with her long black hair. Yet, from his perch the King saw something through her hair. She was smiling.

"Hmm?" He'd noticed.

She elegantly landed on her feet exactly in the middle of the cage and stood straight up and stared directly at the crowd. The music was still going. This show was far from over.  
The King had seen what she'd done. There was a magic circle drawn in the sand. Before they could react she said muttered the words "Amaterasu formula Zero" the magic circle lit up.

 _Burn._

What happened next was a fluster of fire and screams as people ran in panic being burnt alive. When it was over the girl came out of the cage. There was no reason for her to stay. She broke her chains and walked over to find the King. He was still alive.

"When. When did you?" His voice was weak.

"I am no longer bound by your chains." She smiled. "I am the daughter of the Dragon King of Fire. Igneel." She knelt down next to him and whispered in his ear, "Remember me in hell. My name is Resha. Resha Dragneel. I'll be sure to join you someday."

The King was dead. Not far away from them was his wife and only child. Or what was left of them, which wasn't much. His wife no longer looked like a person and his son's face, or what was left of it, was under a part of the stone wall.  
Resha walked outside there was ash everywhere. It was people. Some buildings had caught fire too which spread around the city. Through fire, smoke and ash she was gone. For now.

* * *

"Levy- chan!" Lucy ran over to the small girl and hugged her, "Have you found anything?"

Levy tilted her head up from the book, "Not much, it's hard to translate. But, I did figure out how it's written. It's an ancient lauguage writing by druids. The first type of wizards. The language of the earth. It's still hard though." She paused, noticing Lucy was pulling out a book from her bag, "Did you guys find anything?"

"Yeah we did actually. This diary. We think it might have belonged to the girl in the story." She smiled.

Gajeel walked over, "what you got there blondie?" He looked at the diary as Lucy gave it to her.

"Have fun with that. The journey was long and I'm tired. We haven't really read that much. Just enough to assume it'll help. I would have but I was too tired to read. I'll see you later." She smiled with her findings and left.

"It's something that might help me with the translations. Or at least save me some time." She sat back down and started studying the book.

"Huh?" She stopped.

"What is it?" Gajeel asked, while leaning in next to her, trying to make sense of this.

"Igneel?" She muttered.

"You're gonna have to give me more than that shrimp."

"Hold on." She put on her wind reading glasses. She needed to read all of it before she made any accusations.

"What'd you find?" Gajeel was confused. He wasn't too surprised that Igneel was probably mentioned in the book. But, he still wanted to know the context.

"This- It's- The girl? It can't be." She was talking to herself.

"Oi shrimp quit babbling!" Gajeel was used to this now, but it still irritated him whenever she did it.

"This really is the girl in the book. If I do this-" She started scribbling with her magic pen.

A few flicks with the pen and the whole children's book was translated. It matched events told in the diary.

"The Burning Girl. This is her diary! The diary starts off from where she killed the King." She was filled with excitement, "That must have been the theatre in Boscow!"

"Okay." He still wasn't following, "You mind telling me where Igneel fits into this?"

"Wha- Oh yeah. Well. Um. She was a slave and during a festival a dragon came down upon the city and burned it to the ground."

"Sooo. Igneel, I presume?"

"Yeah. He found her and they made an agreement. He took her away for two years and taught her fire dragon slaying magic. But, not only that. She became a leader of a revolutionary army called 'Vipers Fang'. They caused a lot of trouble for the royal families and the rich feared them. But, they protected the people."  
She looked at Gajeel who seemed to finally be understanding her, "And this is where the diary starts. Her last dance. When she killed the King and set the downfall for Boscow making it no longer a rich city."

"Okay." Gajeel was trying to keep up. "As amazing as that is, I still don't get why this chick is so important."

"In the story it also mentions how in those two years she had a son. When she completed her task in Boscow she left and according both the diary and book she has another son." Suddenly her excitement went and her tone of voice changed.

"What is it?" Gajeel noticed the change.

"It was Zeref-" She hesitated and lowered her voice, "-and Natsu. The two sons. She named herself Resha Dragneel." She stopped.

This actually shocked Gajeel. Even after everything, it seems the Dragneel name would really become the centre of everything.

"The book paints her as the perfect protagonist. She dies by the hands of a demon, which I guess is the reality, and how most children's books from four-hundred years ago would be written like."

"Pretty dark really." He grumbled.

"I guess. Going from the diary entries and descriptions. I'm beginning to think is Acnologia." She hesitated as just saying the name gave her a flashback of Tenrou Island. "The book ends with the two sons living happily. But I guess we know that was only the beginning of their story. However, the last entry." Her mind wondered.

"What about it" Gajeel tapped her head.

"I is think the ultimate beginning to all this."

 _October X397_

 _I suppose you're not a God. You're a dragon. It was never your duty. It was mine. As a mother. Zeref is safe. He lives in Alvarez. My true home. I don't want him here, not in this hellish place. The dragon war is coming to a close. But, a new war will soon begin. My son will pay his part. I don't really want him too, but I understand peace does not come easily, nor quickly. This is a reality I must accept._

 _They gave us salvation. A way to fight back. Protect ourselves and not rely on them. And we. We manipulated it. Betrayed them._

 _I will fix this. I_ _want_ _have to fix this. Something is going to happen. I don't know exactly what. Zeref is a smart child. But he cannot lie to his mother. I know what he's going to try and do. He feels ashamed that he couldn't protect his little brother. But, that was my job and I failed. Yet, it seems Zeref will try and fix it. He's my son after all._

 _I don't know how it will work out. But, I know there will be another war. Not with dragons though. With demons. Humans_ _don't_ _will never learn._

 _What Zeref will do (if he succeeds) will destroy this world. I'm not happy about it, however we need monsters in the world in order to prosper. True paradise is an illusion. How can we learn what is bad, when there is no bad to be seen?_

 _There is a man. No. He's not quite human. He was once. But, now. He's what I worked so hard not to become. I want to be mad at the dragons for trusting us humans. But, we should be grateful they did._

 _I'm going to face this man. This monster. This Dragon King._

 _I won't return._

 _I'm sorry. If you are reading this then I failed you. Both of you._

 _Zeref. Natsu._

Her words rang in their heads.

"They haven't read this have they?" Gajeel already knew they hadn't.

"No." Levy whispered. "We'll talk tomorrow."

"Ah. I think I'll have a bath and get some sleep. That journey was really tiresome." Lucy yawned. She took her bath followed with her usual bedtime routine, switched the lights off and crawled into bed.

She sighed, "You have got to be joking." She jumped out of bed pulling all the sheets with her. ""YOU TWO I SWEAR TO GOD!" She shouted at the blue and pink heaps on the floor.

"Luccyy I was sleeping." Happy murmured.

"Like hell you were!" It been so long since she came home to this that she'd thought they'd stopped doing it. But old habits die hard and despite her actions, she really did miss this.

"Luce stop shouting." Natsu rubbed his eyes.

She couldn't help but smile in the end. "You two are unbelievable." She giggled.

Natsu looked at her with Happy already asleep in his arms. "Well your bed is nicer." He smiled knowing she wasn't going to kick them out.

She looked at him astonished. He smiled. It was a Natsu smile too. Not some attempt. He actually smiled.

Noticing he glance he grew self-conscious and the smile disappeared, "W-what?" He was confused.

Realizing Lucy quickly headed to the kitchen grabbing some water, "How are you feeling?" She ignored the question to avoid embarrassment. She still couldn't believe he smiled. She missed it more than she believed.

"Um, okay I guess." He was still not getting why she was smiling at him. "You're really weird sometimes." He raised an eyebrow in concern.

It only then occurred to her that she was still smiling. But, she couldn't help it. Natsu. Her Natsu was here again. She missed him.

"I'm not weird!" She protested nearly throwing the glass of water in his face, but stopped herself remembering he's still in her bed.

Natsu stood up and put Happy on the bed, "Okay wanna tell me why you're being odd?"

As soon as he came to face her, she hugged him tightly. "Uh Lucy?" She had buried her face into his scarf, but he could see there were tears streaming down her face. "Eh? W-What did I do!" He panicked.

"Sorry. I'm just happy to see you smile again. I missed you." She lifted her head with a smile on her face.

He wiped her tears from her cheeks, "What the hell are you talking about? I never left. I told you I wouldn't leave." Deep down he knew what she meant. He just didn't want to accept it. He hated it that he'd made everyone worry so much.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to cry. It wasn't your fault." The tears kept running down her face. "I'm just so happy to see you smile again. Like you always do."

"I promise I'll never leave you. You know that right." He gripped her tightly.

She quietly replied, "Yeah."

Natsu looked down at the blonde mage and smiled. "Because it's always more fun when we're together."

"You looooove each other" A voice came from Natsu's side, causing the two of them to go completely red.

"EH?!" Natsu turned his head around to find a smirking blue cat who was very much awake. Lucy buried her red face into his scarf to hide her embarrassment, despite her positioning adding to Happy's point.

"H-how much did you hear." Natsu stuttered his words. "You were supposed to be asleep!" Happy giggled in reply.

Suddenly Lucy noticed Natsu wasn't denying anything. In fact he looked more embarrassed than she did. What's more is they were still hugging each other.

"Eh?!" She shoved him out the way in a panic.

"Ow!" There was a thump as Natsu hit the floor. "What the hell Lucy?!"

"I see you two are as active as ever." A voice came through the front door. It was Gray.

Both of their faces went bright red, leading Gray to believe something had in fact happened.

"You should make as many happy memories as you can." This time it was Erza who followed Gray into the room.

"W-what is that supposed to mean!" Lucy could barely get out her words.

Before Erza could give off a response Natsu stopped her to avoid digging a larger hole, "Never mind that. Why are you here?" He wanted to forget this night. But, was glad they showed up when they did.

"I knew you'd forget." Gray replied.

He continued, "Before we left Gramps told us to stay in groups because he's worried about what Zeref is gonna do. Remember? You know because we have something he wants."

Lucy then remembered the conversation they had with the first a few weeks earlier about her 'sin' as she placed it. The Fairy Heart.

"Okay. But why my place." This was working out just like when Phantom attacked. "And what about Wendy and Carla?"

"They're staying back at Fairy Hills. But, I didn't want to leave you with these two." Erza smiled. "But, it seems I might have been too late." She could see what had happened going from how Natsu was acting and trying to avoid the conversation.

"Nothing happened!" Natsu and Lucy shouted in sync while Happy laughed in the background.

Gray laughed, "Lucy I think Natsu's idiocy finally rubbed off on you."

"I thought you'd want to go with Juvia?" Lucy aggressively asked before Natsu started a fight in her apartment, leaving Gray in a fluster and spitting out a mumble of words she couldn't make out.

Erza interjected, "both of you should take a bath before bed."

"I've already had one." Natsu complained.

"When?" Lucy looked at him already guessing when.

"Before you got back." He replied like it was nothing. She sighed not really knowing what have expected as an answer. She was however, slightly impressed to see that the bathroom remained clean, now that she thought about it she did notice the bath floor was wet, but paid no mind to it.

"You two really are stupid." Gray muttered while watching the two of them together. He knew Natsu was naïve, but he wasn't blind and despite Gray's words he knew he wasn't that stupid either.

But, it was nice to see Natsu being his normal self. Aside from him clearly being embarrassed. Gray figured he'd have to talk to him at some point. Despite the answer he gave Juvia which involved her waiting a little longer, which she has respected. He'd have to be a little hypocritical, yet his and Juvia's relationship is very different to Natsu and Lucy's.

Natsu was different. He needed Lucy. Especially now. But, Gray knew that he's actually scared to do anything because he doesn't want to lose her. Just when he thought he would do something, they had the bombshell of Zeref Dragneel, pulling Natsu further away from everyone. Natsu's minds been such a mess lately that he needs this. Gray believed it would be Lucy to pull him back and it seems she's already started to.

" _I'm sorry I can't save you from your fate."_

Those words rang in Natsu's head as Levy repeated the final entry. _How did she know? Why, why if she knew, why didn't she stop him? I wouldn't be alive, which would suck. But Zeref wouldn't have had the curse. Erza and Jellal, they wouldn't have met, but they wouldn't have been through hell either. Gray's parents would be alive. Fairy Tail wouldn't exist, couldn't that maybe be for the best, right? Why didn't she stop him?_

"What the hell!" Natsu was annoyed. He couldn't take any more of this. He was angry. _She knew_. _Yet, she still let it happen._ _She left to fight something she even said herself she wouldn't win. She left my brother to suffer. Alone. Why?_

"We figured you'd not read it." Levy sounded ashamed. As though she herself wrote those words.

"This is a load of crap!" He turned towards the guild door and began walking.

"Natsu where are you going!" Lucy shouted.

He didn't hear her however and stormed out the guild.

"Natsu!" Erza shouted, but was also ignored.

"Gray go after him." Erza bluntly stated.

"Why do I have to go?! He probably wants to be alo- " Erza cut him off.

"Because you're the best one to get through to him?" She glared at him.

"Erza I don't think fighting will really help. I thought talking would be more rational." Lucy stated.

"No, normally I mean yes. But he clearly isn't listening to words. So Gray can handle it for now." She sounded confident. Normally Lucy or Happy would be the better option, but Natsu's not thinking straight and as close as they are its obvious he's not open with his emotions to anyone. Natsu speaks with actions not words.

After some walking, it occurred to Gray that he had no idea where Natsu had actually gone. So he began looking in obvious places such as Lucy's apartment and Natsu's house but he wasn't there.

Gray thought about all the possible places he'd have gone to, "Idiot, where the hell did you go?" The pond in the forest. Natsu and Happy usually fish there. Although when Natsu first joined the guild he used to go there a lot on his own.

As Gray hoped, Natsu was there sat by the water. Alone. Just like when he was a kid. Natsu and Erza were more alike than they realized, people either ignored or forgot about what Natsu was like when he first joined. There past's maybe be different, but when they both first joined they detached themselves from everyone. When Natsu first entered the guild hall he was lively and outgoing. But, that quickly changed. Aside from the fights he and Gray had, he was cut off from the others or rather, he cut himself off. Gray soon realized that Natsu fought with him because he didn't want to get close to anyone. He wanted to find Igneel. He wanted to go home.

"I thought you might have ended up here." Gray sat down next to him. Natsu gave no response and continued looking at his reflection in the water.

Gray sighed before punching him in the head.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?!" he growled.

"Because you're spacing out." Despite originally being annoyed at Erza for making him go after Natsu. Gray realized her intentions.

"Why the hell are you here?" Natsu sighed. He remembered Gray lecturing him in this spot when they were kids and could sense that he was about to do it again.

"Jeez, you don't need to sound so cheerful." Gray spoke with a sarcastic tone. "Erza made me come and get you. I want to talk to you anyway."

Natsu looked back down at the water and sighed, "I don't want a lecture."

"I'm not giving you one. You wouldn't listen if I did."

"I listened last time didn't I?" He murmured. "I shouldn't have though."

Gray smiled solemnly, "Yeah. I'm sorry." He hadn't forgotten, he always felt guilty about it after Igneel died.

"Oi flame brain!" Gray shouted, but the pink haired boy showed no reaction. He continued to lie in the grass looking up to the pale blue skies. "Hey don't ignore me!" He stormed up to him, blocking out Natsu's view.

"What?" Natsu now looked at him blankly.

"What is your problem? You're normally trying to hit me right now." Gray frowned.

"Well maybe I don't feel like it. Now leave me alone. I just got back from a job and I'm tired." He stood up and got ready to make a swift exit.

"Eh?" He hadn't known him long, but long enough to know this wasn't normal.

Natsu looked down as he walked away. Gray couldn't help but notice how tired the boy looked now that he had a closer look.

"What happened?" He muttered to himself as he watched Natsu walk off.

Natsu gave a small laugh amused by Gray's reaction, "It's okay. You didn't know. I just wish- nevermind." He went quiet again. He couldn't even say Igneel's name without breaking a little on the inside.

Gray frowned, "Am I going to have to beat an answer out of you, or are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"N-nothing." He sounded afraid and Gray noticed the unsteadiness in his arms as they held him up from the ground.

"Well you're coping better than most of us would." Gray smiled at him, he always envied Natsu's optimism. Yet he could see it was wearing thin if it hadn't gone completely.

He laughed warily, "I'm not coping. I just don't want anyone worrying about me. I know you all are. If you weren't you wouldn't be here right now." Natsu was trying his hardest not to fall apart, but he was long past his breaking point.

"You don't always have strong you know." Gray ruffled Natsu's pink hair. "That's what family are for. No one's mad at you and no one is expecting you to face this alone."

Natsu looked down and gave a small smile, "Heh. I thought I wasn't getting a lecture."

"Well you're being stupid. Not that's a new thing."

Natsu had been like this for days. Drifting in and out of the guild only for jobs and the occasional meal. Gray felt he needed to do something about it. He'd tried the tradition of picking a fight with him. But, much to his dismay Natsu would shrug off any attempts Gray made and walk off.

Gray once again found him by the pond.

Natsu heard him approaching, "Can't you leave me alone." He sighed, he didn't make any attempt to move this time however and remained staring across the pond.

Gray remained silent, instead of his usual charade of movements and insults towards Natsu. He walked up to him and sat down next to him.

This broke Natsu's focus towards the family of ducks that were swimming on the other side of the pond. "W-what are you doing?" He looked at the boy who was now next to him.

"You're being weird and stupid." Gray frowned. "So what happened?"

"What are you talking about? And since when did you care anyway." Natsu looked back at the ducks, but they'd ventured into the forest out of sight.

Gray noticed what he'd been looking at, "You've gone back to not wanting anything to do with the guild."

"So what?"

"The guild is family and as family we're supposed to look out for each other. I thought you'd learnt that by now from the old man or even Gildarts."

Natsu stood up, "Well maybe I don't want to be here! I'm not meant to be here. Family is a stupid thing to have because they'll leave you and will probably give some crap about how it's for the best. I don't care! I hate this place. It's not my family. I don't have one." He began to tremble. "This isn't home." He started crying.

Natsu was always optimistic and full of determination this way of talking really threw him off, but he understood his feelings, well to an extent. Although they were dead Gray knew where his family were, not knowing is probably worse.

Natsu fell to his knees and started sobbing. "I want to go home."

Gray felt bad for pushing him like he had. He'd begun to realize that even after Natsu started becoming closer in the guild, he was trying to push himself away with the fights. He realized that like him, Natsu lived alone, but unlike Gray who'd grown to like it, Natsu didn't want to be alone.

Gray knelt in front of him, "Idiot." He ruffled his pink hair, "You're not alone, even if you don't see it yet. The guild is family, its home and when you realize that, when you realize that someone has your back and you can have theirs you won't feel alone." He smiled.

Natsu calmed down, "But Igneel's still gone. I want to know where. I want to know why. Why? Why would you leave me? Igneel why?" His eyes were red from excessively trying to rub away the tears that wouldn't stop streaming down his face.

"Natsu calm down. Don't push this on yourself. I'm sure there is a reason and for that reason, finding him won't be easy. Even if he is a dragon. You shouldn't give up. But you shouldn't forget that just because he's not around, you don't have a family. Because you do and we're not going anywhere."

Natsu smiled, "Sorry."

Gray stood up, "Now quit being stupid and come back to the guild!"

"Yeah sur- Uh Gray?" Natsu looked at Gray in annoyance.

"What?" Gray raised an eyebrow.

"Your clothes!" Natsu shouted.

Gray looked down and realized he was only in his boxers, "Eh!"

Natsu laughed, "And you say I'm the weird one."

Natsu looked at Gray and sighed, "Gray your clothes." He wasn't even surprised anymore. But he was curious on how Gray manages to actually go home and still have clothes in his wardrobe.

He looked down to see nothing but his chain, skin and boxers, "H-hey don't try and change the subject!"

"I wasn't. You're just stupid."

"Well from what Happy told me, I think you're the stupid one." He paused waiting to see the ball drop in Natsu's head.

It took a while to understand where the Ice freak was going with this, suddenly Natsu's face went red with embarrassment. "I'm going to kill that cat." He buried his face into his hand.

"So you do know what I'm talking about." He smirked.

"S-shut it Ice freak." He grumbled.

Gray laughed, "Jeez Natsu."

"Like you and Juvia are any better. I can't believe you're making her wait. That's just cold." Natsu tried desperately to end this conversation.

Gray saw what Natsu was doing as Lucy successfully did the same earlier, but that only caused him to drift back to the original topic, "Well that aside, don't start doing what you did when we were kids."

Natsu's embarrassment faded and tilted his head to the ground, "Sorry." He understood what Gray meant, "I just don't understand. Why did she still let it happen? I'm grateful being here now. In the guild. But- " He hesitated, grasping that idea that he died was still difficult, "I lived 400 years ago. I- I- " It was weird just thinking about it, actually trying to say those words out loud made him tremble. "I didn't make Tartaros. I- I-" His mind was going cloudy again as he thought of everything at once, he'd begun to breath heavily.

Gray gently rubbed his back to reassure him "Natsu stop, calm dow-"

"Gray I'm being serious!" He yelled at him. "Why is no-one taking this seriously?! Stop worrying about me!"

"Natsu we're all serious here. Calm down." Gray paused. "Whatever happened 400 years ago happened. That wasn't you. That was E.N.D. Right now you're Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail. Not Zeref's brother. Not a demon from the book of Zeref. You're human. You're family." He put a hand on Natsu's right shoulder. "Even if that guild mark disappeared, you'd still be family. I know I can speak on behalf of everybody back at the guild when I say this. No one is giving up on you, because you've never given up on us. But, we wouldn't get mad if you did end up giving in, it's clear you're way past your limit."

Natsu frowned, he wanted to believe Gray's words. In fact he did and yet he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd done something terrible to them. He curled up and buried his head into his arms, "I'm sorry." After a while he stood up.

Gray stood up too, "Finally want to come back to the guild?"

 _Natsu._

Natsu stumbled, Gray grabbed him before he fell over.

"Hey are you okay?"

"I- I feel dizzy." His vision began to blur.

 _Natsu you're going to be okay._

 _Natsu._

He went completely white. Natsu looked past Gray towards the pond. There was a girl stood above the water. Her long black hair covered most of her face, revealing only her smile.

He wavered, as Gray continued to support him.

"Natsu?"

 _Natsu._

"Hey Natsu?"

 _You're going to be okay._

"Natsu!"

Natsu's eyes rolled back before closing as he collapsed. Gray eased him to the ground. He'd begun to go feverish. He carefully picked him up and carried him home to put him to bed. He looked exhausted. Gray knew he was having nightmares. So he was sure Natsu had probably forgotten what a good night's sleep was, even if he couldn't remember what the nightmare actually were. He knew all too well because he'd been there before with Deliora. He still suffered sometimes.

Natsu muttered in his sleep. "It hurts. It hurts."

"Huh?" Gray used his ice magic to cool him down. He'd begun to sweat.

"I can't breathe. It hurts. Mum." Natsu's voice had turned to a whisper.

"Mum?" It took some time before it dawned on him what Natsu was dreaming about.

He wanted it to stop. He didn't want Natsu to remember _that_ of all things. He shook him until he woke. "Natsu! Natsu wake up! Natsu you need to wake up!"

Eventually, Natsu jolted up with tears and sweat flowing down his face. He was breathing heavily.

"Hey!" Gray tried to get him to focus.

He shook in fear "G-Gray." His voice had gone timid.

"You're okay. You're okay." Gray hugged him. He didn't know what else to do. Natsu getting his memories back couldn't be avoided. But Gray felt so hopeless. One of his best friends were in pain and he didn't know what to do.

Natsu's breathing became unsteady as he was trying to control his breathing.

He whispered, "It was so dark." Over and over in a panic.

"Hey, hey calm down. You're awake now. You're safe. I promise. It was just a dream." Gray gently ruffled Natsu's hair to reassure him he was awake. He knew it was more than a dream, but he didn't know what else to say.

Natsu was on the verge of having a panic attack as he begun to hyperventilate.

"Natsu look at me." It took some time, but he eventually made eye contact with him. "You're awake now. You're awake and alive. I'm here and you're safe. I promise." Natsu was still breathing rapidly. "Just try to calm down alright." Gray pulled Natsu back towards him and rocked his gently to try and calm him. He remembered Ul doing the same with him whenever he got night terrors as a kid.

It wasn't long before Natsu had calmed down, "Are you okay now?" There was no response. "Natsu?" Gray lifted Natsu's head a little, only to find he'd fallen asleep. Gray gently rested him down back on the bed.

He didn't leave his side as he was worried Natsu would end up having more memories rush back to him, leaving him alone was a bad idea right now. From what they had discovered so far, 400 years ago wasn't a happy place. Not to mention the fact that in the brief time Natsu did remember everything, he couldn't bring himself to talk about anything.


	10. Flames 5

_Huh? Where am I? Why is it so dark? So cold._

"Ah!" Natsu jolted from the bed. When he looked around he noticed he was in his own house. "Huh?" He looked on the sofa to find Gray who was still asleep.

Natsu got out of bed and heard a clatter in the kitchen, "Good you're awake." Erza appeared in what appeared to be a chef outfit.

"Uhh. What are you doing?" He was lost for words.

"Making breakfast. What do you think?" This time it was Lucy's voice.

"Why in my house?" Natsu was puzzled by the sight.

Lucy smiled, "Well now you know how I feel."

"But wh- "

"Natsuuu!" A blue cat came hurtling towards and into his arms.

"What's going on?" He could see their troubled faces while trying to act normal and yet, something felt odd.

"Nothing. Why does something have to be going on all the time? We're making breakfast." Lucy ran back into the kitchen.

Lucy's evasive movement alarmed him, "Erza. What's going on?"

"Exactly what Lucy said. We went to check on you and make sure the two of you hadn't started fighting. But you were both fast asleep. It's only been a few hours. You both looked tired though so we left you." She smiled as she engulfed herself in making the food.

 _So cold._

"Huh?" There was a voice, it sounded like a child.

Erza went back into the kitchen with Lucy and continued making breakfast. It smelt odd so Natsu went to check it out.

"What are you guys making?" He couldn't see what was in the pot. The set up looked more like they were making dinner than breakfast, but food was food and Erza did like to go over the top sometimes.

"Boiled eggs and toast." Lucy happily went along with what she was doing.

"R-really?" It didn't smell that way.

 _So dark._

There was another voice. This time it sounded like a woman's.

Natsu walked over to the sofa to see Gray who was still sleeping. Something didn't feel right. That smell. It smelled rotten and yet his friends said nothing of it. He looked down at Gray. Something was wrong. He looked sick. No. He was silent. Completely silent.

"Gray?" Natsu shook him. There was no response. "Gray!" No response. He wasn't breathing. His heart had stopped. Dead.

"Natsu breakfast is ready!" Erza called in.

"You guys what the hell!" Natsu ran in.

 _You did this._

He saw nothing but horror. Lucy and Erza smiled at him.

 _You did this._

"What's wrong Natsu?" Lucy approached him. Every step she took she became more and more pale, eventually she was face to face with him. Her eyes were sullen and her lips blue. 'Now sit down breakfast is ready.'

 _You did this._

A voice hissed at him as it echoed around the room.

Natsu looked around trying to find the source, he noticed Erza was also looking like a corpse. Eventually, he looked at the table where his apparent breakfast was. Horrified, he saw maggots squirming around a head in the middle of the table. The head was rotten flesh with pieces of what looked like a cat skull peering through. And blue tufts of fur.

"Now eat!" Lucy cheered behind him. Or what was left of her rotten, decrepit corpse.

 _It's your fault. All yours._

Natsu fell into a fit of panic. He became so frightened he just froze staring into what was left of Happy's right eye. The eye moved. It fixated onto the pink haired boy.

 _You killed us._

Natsu murmured in his sleep.

"Natsu!" Erza shook him.

Natsu jerked upwards in his bed covered in sweat and was completely out of it, "W-where?"

"You're at home. Gray said you guys talked and then you passed out." Lucy stumbled in the room amazed to see her best friend awake. "You guys were gone for a while so we went looking for you. We tried here first and that's when Gray explained what happened."

Natsu was in a daze however, and the two girls quickly realized that he wasn't paying any attention.

"Natsu." Erza grabbed his arm. "Calm down. You're okay." He was shaking.

Lucy went into the kitchen and got him a glass of water. He was shaking so much however that she had to give it to him herself. Not to mention that he was still waking up.

After a few moments he calmed down and started composing himself. Once he did the first place he looked at was the sofa. Gray was there asleep, he could see him breathing. He was exhausted, probably from using his magic to keep Natsu's fever in check. He really owed him for this, for everything, he owed all of them.

"Where's Happy?" Despite the water, his throat was dry causing his voice to be not more than a whisper.

"Don't worry he's right here." Lucy assured him pointing to the bottom of the bed, which showed a sleeping blue ball of fur.

Suddenly Natsu began to recall the weird dream he had, along with the memory of his death, the thought made him nauseous, "I think I'm gonna be sick." He jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom.

Erza went into the kitchen to make some herbal tea, while Lucy comforted Natsu who had his head over the toilet.

"I'm guessing the idiot's awake then." Gray joined Erza in the kitchen. "Man I wish he would have given me a warning."

Erza chuckled at the thought of Gray panicking about how to deal with a sick person on his own, "Yeah. Lucy's keeping him in check." She was a little disheartened. Natsu was always so strong. But she couldn't forget how terrified he looked when he woke up moments before.

After a while Natsu wearily joined them, with Lucy trailing in behind him worried he would topple over.

"You feeling any better?" Erza figured it was a dumb question, but it was one he'd still answer. Right now she just wanted to hear him talk.

Being sick so much seemed to damage his vocal chords enough to make it hard to talk. Nonetheless he managed to give a slight smile. "Yeah, kinda."

Lucy looked at him in concern, "You should probably lie down for a while. You didn't sleep that long. Even when you were, I wouldn't say you were having the best of sleeps."

He coughed, "Sure. Sorry." He hated that he made them worry like this, he felt so pathetic and helpless.

Erza continued making tea for herself, Gray and Lucy. While Natsu staggered back to bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

"Is he going to be okay?" Gray looked over to him.

'Well it's Natsu we're talking about. It may take some time and we already knew that getting his memories back wouldn't be a walk in the park. He'll be okay eventually.' Lucy took a sip of her tea.

Erza stirred her tea, "The nightmares aren't new. But it seems he's remembering them now. We just have to keep an eye on him."

* * *

"You fuckers get off me!" Resha screamed at the group of men who crowded around her.

"Aww. What's wrong sweetheart. Is my cock too big for ya?!" The other men jeered in the background.

Two men shoved her to the ground, "Heh. Is that-?" One of the men walked over to the lifeless boy that lay next to her, he was laughing.

"Don't you fucking dare!" She yelled while making an attempt to stand. She was shoved back to the ground however, receiving a face full of dirt and her son's blood.

"Don't I dare what? This?" The soldier lifted up the child's pale, dead face before smashing it against the cold hard floor. "You're just a pathetic whore. I'm sure you've got plenty knocking around." The man laughed, while his subordinates heckled behind him. "I'll admit though. I'm a little embarrassed."

"Keep going fucker. I'll rip out you're god damn tongue." She hissed.

He roared with laughter dropping the boys head. "No cat is getting my tongue wench." He walked over to her and grabbed her chin. "What you gonna do you filthy little bitch?" He grinned showing his yellow, rotten teeth.

She spat in his face, "Fuck you." This resulted in him kicking her. She sat there for a while looking down at the ground while the men laughed.

"Oh but you already did that. You see men! This pathetic little doll face whore is the one who killed our King!" He continued to laugh. "You all know what we do to traitors!"

A man behind him spoke up, "Even the pretty ones. I bet she'd be a good fuck!" The men around him roared with laughter.

"Oh she was. But sadly," He shook his head in a mocking shame, "Sadly you lot don't get to find that out. Not today. Not today." He drew his sword. "You won't be getting to see her pretty little cunt boys." Some of the men showed faces of disappointment while mouthing words like, 'what a waste' and 'damn shame' while shaking their heads.

She began to laugh. "I thought my dearest husband could hit better than that."

He lowered his sword, "Oh I can. You know that." He snorted. "Now that I think about it. Don't I have two?" He looked around the darkness, "Zeref? Don't tell me he's alive and that brat died. I thought Natsu was the better one."

"Well he wasn't screamin daddy sir." One of the soldiers piped up behind him.

He turned around, "Good. If he died then I don't 'ave any kids."

Resha looked up at the man she once called her love, "what the fuck happened to you?"

The man laughed again, "War my sweet. You happened. You and your god damn revolution. I bet you were fuckin what-ser-face too." He lifted his sword to her neck. "Now my dearest. Any last words?"

She lowered her head and smiled. The men were startled, but before they could do anything they were set ablaze. Then the screams began. "Darkness will only be blinded by light." A dragon appeared. It was her dragon. The fire dragon King.

Resha grabbed a knife on the floor and walked over to her former love. She didn't want magic to kill him. She wanted a reflection of his heart to. A cold, metal, sharp object. She stabbed him, but as a reaction he grabbed her hair. They stumbled around for a while before she lunged the knife into his face. In a fit of her anger and panic the knife went back and forth into his face until he stopped moving. She grabbed Natsu's cold bloodied body and got on the dragons back. Then in the smoke. Disappeared.

* * *

Natsu woke up. It was strange. That was probably the first time in weeks that he'd managed to sleep peacefully.

"You feeling any better?" Wendy was next to the bed holding a cup of tea. "Here you'll probably want this." She handed it to him.

Natsu sipped some of the tea, "Yeah and thanks." He assumed that he was feeling better because of her. "Thanks Wendy." He smiled.

"I'm glad you're awake." Erza walked in holding the diary. "Levy might have found something."

Gray and Lucy walked in behind her. "You don't have to come if you're still not feeling well." Lucy walked straight to him.

"Actually I'm feeling fine thanks to Wendy. And I guess you guys too." He felt guilty for having made them worry so much.

"Well I didn't do much." Wendy spoke nervously.

"Well if you're feeling okay then get ready. I'll explain everything on the train." Natsu and Wendy looked at Erza blankly.

"T-train." The two dragon slayers spoke in unison.

"Don't worry it's only 4 hours." Happy mocked as he saw their reactions.

Natsu had disdain written all over his face, "A-awesome."

"You're lucky I haven't eaten yet. But I think I can taste the tea." Natsu splayed himself resting his head on the window. Wendy was next to him with her head rested on his arm.

"Man you're pathetic." Gray growled at him.

"Erza you said you'd explain. What did Levy find?" Lucy asked.

"She managed to translate all the book. The girl is actually Natsu's mother." She hesitated with her words know this would be a delicate matter. Yet, through his sickness Natsu gave her an unsurprised look.

With his look of approval she continued, "The diary obviously goes into a lot of detail. But it does stop. Either she died after the last entry or she simply lost it. It's hard to tell. But one thing we did find is the possible area of where that last entry was written." She hesitated again. It was likely that they were about the venture into the area of where Natsu died. "There's a vast rural landscape South-East of Fiore."

Gray looked at her, "So what about it?"

Erza nibbled at her strawberry cake, "According to Levy there's nothing but woodland and grasslands that extend for mile. However, somewhere within that woodland there is an entrance to something underground."

"Underground? Like what, a mine?" Lucy pondered.

Erza continued, "If Levy's hunch is right. Then it'll be a city."

"A city?" Carla muttered.

"Ehhh!" The two jumped out of their seats astonished.

Erza overlooked their reaction, "The city of Istabella."

They walked around the woodlands for what felt like hours.

"Hey! Do we even know where to go?" Lucy collapsed onto a rock and rubbed her feet. "Can we rest a bit?" She didn't really care if the answer was no. She _was_ resting.

"I think we should. It's pointless walking around like this." Erza peered around, "We'll only get lost. Besides the sun is starting to set and I don't think we should wander around at night." She sat on the rock next to Lucy.

"I think we're already lost." Gray mumbled.

"Whose fault is that?" Natsu muttered, only to result in a murderous glare from Erza. The one whom they'd been following. "I'll go get some wood." He wanted to evade any beating from her today.

Gray coughed nervously and avoided eye contact before she killed him. "I think I'll go too."

"I'll start sorting some food." She began unpacking some things so they could have a meal.

Wendy lay face down on the floor, "I think my feet are going to fall off."

Lucy groaned, "I think mine already fell off."

Carla sat next to her, "Oh get a grip you two. Some walking never does any harm."

"It does to my feet." Happy responded.

"But, you've been either flying or lay on Natsu's head for most of it!" Lucy complained.

"Aye!" Happy got a fish from his bag and began gnawing on it, completely missing Lucy's point.

After some time, Natsu and Gray were back with some wood and the group set up camp for the night.

"So where exactly should we look? This place is huge." Lucy asked.

"It's underground, so we could just dig. Hey you could ask Virgo!" Natsu looked over at an unamused Lucy.

"Don't be stupid. We can't just dig, we don't know how far down it is and I don't fancy falling. Besides what if we dig but never find the entrance once we're down there. How do we get out?" She replied.

"Happy and Carla could fly us back up." Natsu stated blankly.

"Yeah right." The two exceeds grumbled in response.

"So where do we look?" Wendy pondered, "Did Levy say anything about where this entrance might be?"

"Unfortunately we couldn't find anything. But there must be something here." Erza contemplated.

"Well I'm getting some sleep. I'm sure we'll find something tomorrow." Gray lay down, having already stripped giving Lucy a sense of Deja-vu.

"Sounds like a good idea." Natsu yawned and fell asleep within minutes.

The next morning Erza, Wendy and Carla were the first ones awake. Natsu soon joined them although he spent some time trying to actually get up. His head was still on the floor.

"Is there something wrong Natsu-san?" Wendy looked at him.

He didn't respond.

Erza approached him, "Natsu I can accept you still being asleep. But, now you're just lazy. If you're awake then quite dawdling and get up."

He wasn't paying any attention to them. He was listening to something. Something in the ground.

"What is it?" Carla asked.

"I can hear water?" Natsu continued to listen. "I guess I was too tired to notice last night." Wendy soon joined him putting her ear to the floor.

"Can you hear anything Wendy?" Erza asked.

"Yeah. It's faint but, it sounds like a stream." She lifted her head.

"Eh? What's going on?" Gray soon got up. Shortly followed by Lucy and Happy.

"We think there's a stream below us. If there is that might be our entrance." Wendy replied.

"So we could follow the sound and maybe get to an entrance. The water had to get in somehow." Lucy asked.

Gray looked around, "But where? This place is massive!"

"I think Levy mentioned something about mountains at the far north section. We could check there." Erza exclaimed.

"And how far is that exactly?" Lucy dreaded what the answer would be.

"I don't think it's that far because I think I can see them." Natsu looked up.

Gray sighed, "If you can see them and we can't, I'll take that as pretty far."

Wendy and Lucy groaned at the thought. Their feet still hurt from yesterday. "Oh God please don't be far." Lucy mumbled.

After a couple of hours the group finally reached the mountains.

"See there was a stream here. And a waterfall." Happy shouted. Lucy and Wendy lay on the floor as soon as they could.

"That's it. I'm not taking any jobs for a while." She protested.

"What about your rent. It's not like we're getting paid for this." Natsu looked at her knowing full well what answer she would give him, "Don't think I'm getting you the money from my jobs either. I still have food to get." He only got an annoyed, yet expected groan as a response.

"Come on you two get up we haven't finished what we're supposed to be doing." Carla shouted at the two girls spread out on the floor.

Erza investigated the area, "Maybe we should see where the stream leads?"

Natsu walked to the side of the waterfall and looked at it for a while before jumping in the water.

"Oi Natsu, what are you doing!?" Gray shouted at him, "This isn't time to be screwing around!" He got no response. Natsu ducked his head underwater and began swimming beneath the waterfall. Suddenly he was gone.

Without further discussion the others soon followed him, having realized that Natsu must have found the entrance, but as per usual decided to only act and not tell them.

"Great now my clothes are all wet." Lucy rinsed out her hair.

"Would you like these ones mistress?" Virgo appeared with clothes for Lucy and Wendy. Erza ex-quipped, while Gray used Natsu as a personal dryer.

"Thank you Virgo-san." They took they clothes and quickly dressed, having seen that their teammates had already sorted themselves.

Lucy shuffled around trying to put her boots on, "Natsu it'd be great if you'd told us before jumping straight in." she protested.

He wasn't really paying any attention as he walked over to what seemed to be a cliff edge. "Holy crap! There really is a city down here!"

They were all amazed at the sight. From where they stood the group could see the remnants of the entire city. Despite its age, the location of the ancient city has helped keep some of its form. There appeared to be life still here, with fireflies fluttering around, providing the group's main light source, as well as some gaps in the celling. Most of the buildings were falling apart and coated in vines and moss. It was like something from a dream. But then there was what lay in the middle.

"I-is that-" Lucy was astonished by the sight. There was a rotten giant corpse in the middle of the city. A dragon's corpse.

Natsu looked at it for a while, "they really were just spirits." He mumbled to himself.

"Did you say something?" Erza glanced over noticing his solemn expression.

Natsu looked over the edge of the cliff, "nothing."

Happy flew over, "I think I found some stairs that can take us down."

"Then let's head down." Erza began walking. 'I wonder what happened here though. It looks like it was a big city." She pondered, four-hundred years ago was filled with war, so almost anything could have been the cause.

"Wendy do you think you could use your magic on that dragon." Carla asked.

She frowned, "Sorry, I've already searched. There's no spirits here."

Lucy looked around, "Does it have to be a dragon?" it was a long shot. But she'd noticed when actually walking around the city, there were a lot of human corpses here too.

Wendy felt guilty, "I don't know. I've never tried a human before. But even if I could. I think human spirits are weaker, I can't sense any. Sorry."

"It's okay. I don't know about dragons but I guess four-hundred years is a long time for a human. It was worth asking." Lucy gave her a reassuring smile.

"Why did we come here again?" Natsu began to feel on edge. Erza never said it, but he knew. He knew he died here. He didn't need to read the diary for that. He'd remembered that much. "I still don't get was we're actually supposed to be looking for."

"Anything that looks out of place." Erza was evasive with her answer.

He began to get annoyed with her, with all of them, there was a plan and they all seemed to know it, he felt out of the loop. They kept trying to prevent him from shutting himself out, but it was backfiring. He felt alone.

She continued to walk, acting like she didn't know anything. But, judging from her movements, as Natsu suspected she knew exactly where to go.

Gray could see Natsu was running on a short fuse, "What exactly would look out of place? Have you really seen where we are?" Deep down even he didn't really understand what all this searching was for, or what they we're even looking for. He could see Erza was hiding something.

She sighed knowing full well she was pushing her luck with Natsu, "The book spoke about a house."

"What about it?" Lucy asked slightly confused by Erza's vagueness.

"There is an afterword of sorts." She began to explain.

 _In the Far East befell a dreadful beast, this is where they were.  
Together once, but no more, they'll become of mythical lore,  
A sin will be born before the new dawn.  
In this city of Istabella. _

_For one day, it who knows all came to their door,  
he knocked twice and a mother answered.  
Her children scurried away, but it who knows all  
had already seen them at their door._

 _The being was two and as beings do  
they greeted themselves. 'I am actually one,  
but you will be gone.' They said,  
for you will only meet my one.' _

_The mother closed her door, but the door was no more.  
The boys hid, and as mothers did,  
she pretended she was alone. She knew she had to atone,  
for her sin._

' _Go back from where you came!' She shouted  
she was far from tame, but one smiled  
'I don't want you.' One spoke as she riled.  
'I want them' one pointed, as it knows all,  
and saw the boy hiding behind the door_

 _One grabbed the youngest, one grabbed the eldest  
and they split their ways. After so many days,  
the boys were together, after what was forever,  
but the boys were no longer boys, but neither were they men._

"It took a while, but Levy saw why the book was encrypted in such a way. One side was a children's tale. While the other was a poetic reality." Erza explained.

Natsu looked at her blankly, "I still don't get it." He remembered a lot of that night. He remembered running. He remembered the fall. Not someone knocking on his door and taking him and Zeref away. She didn't say it but it was obvious what this cryptic tale was about.

"I didn't think you would. Like I said, it's poetically written, so most of it might be hypothetical. But, either way, after some research it led us to here." She paused.

"We're here because some stupid story said so. And you still haven't answered my question. What are we here for?" He looked around, "Cause all I see is rubble, some dead stupid fucking dragon and pathetic looking corpses!" Natsu had tolerated enough, he couldn't take any more of this.

The others were silent as Natsu looked Erza in the eyes, "It's a fucking joke." He smiled out of irony before storming off.

Lucy wanted to shout after him but she knew it'd be pointless having seen how angry he was, and they could all tell that his anger went beyond Erza. Despite that she still went running after him.

Erza wanted to grab him, but it was obvious that he wasn't handling this as well as they all kept thinking. It began to amaze her how he's managed to hold out this long. Until she saw that he hadn't. Erza was beginning to see that Natsu was already falling apart.

 _So cold. So dark._

Lucy stopped running, "Huh?" Natsu eventually stopped too.

"Hey d-did you hear anything?" Lucy trembled at the thought.

"I'm sure it was nothing." He turned around and walked back to her, "Sorry."

Lucy looked up to him, "Don't worry, we knew you wouldn't find this easy." She smiled. "Erza didn't say much more to us, than she did with you. We're not finding the thought easy either. But, she didn't mean to be so vague to annoy you. Its just- just-"

"Thanks Luce." He grinned. Suddenly he realized how close they were and quickly backed away. "W-we should get back to the others."

Completely oblivious to Natsu's actions she agreed, "This place is beginning to creep me out. I hope we're not here long." The two eventually found their way back to the rest of the group.

"Hey did you guys hear anything weird?" Wendy asked as they approached them.

"Yeah. A voice. W-where's Erza?" Natsu looked around failing to find the red head.

Gray pointed to one of the rugged houses, "She went into that house. We thought we'd wait out here for you guys to come back. Happy's in there too."

Natsu was silent, "What's in there?" Lucy asked.

"She said there might be a book in there. I'm starting to get the impression that all we're ever going to find is more books that point us to more questions than answers." Carla sighed.

"Well I'll go in with her." Lucy began walking, Wendy and Carla trailed after her.

Gray began walking in after them, only to stop and realize that Natsu remained unmoved. "You okay?"

Natsu looked down at the ashy ground, "I-I think I'll stay here." His voice had gone quiet, causing Gray realized that this must have been his house.

"I don't think it's a good idea to be alone out here." Natsu leant against a stone wall and looked at the ground. He walked back over, "Besides I don't think we all need to go in and look for one book." He sat down on a rock next to him.

After a while Natsu sat down too, "I don't know how I feel about all this."

"No one's expecting you to." He looked up at the house, "I thought you lived in a village not a city."

"I don't remember. Just- I only- Why are we here." He diverted away from what he really wanted to say. Gray knew what he was trying to say.

He sighed, "We need to defeat Zeref and help you. You seemed pretty traumatized when you woke up." He was never going to forget that. "I spent a good hour or so calming you down."

"Huh? When? Nevermind. Sorry." He remembered the dream, but not waking up from it. Just transitioning into the nightmare.

"It's okay idiot." He ruffled Natsu's hair. "Just don't scare us like that again. I heard what you said earlier." He could see some of the dragon's rotten flesh from where they were sat. It might have been four-hundred years ago, but underground the dead weren't quite just skeletons. "It's Igneel isn't it?"

Natsu shivered from the thought. The lack of response gave Gray his answer.

"I guess Grandeeney and the others are somewhere as well if that's the case. But they don't need to know. Not anymore." Gray thought about all those countless efforts Natsu made trying to find Igneel. He thought about Acnologia tearing him in half. But in reality he was here rotting away the whole time. That Igneel was no more than a spirit. The other half of this rotting corpse buried away with this city and countless other corpses.

 _So cold._

"Huh?" Natsu looked up.

"It's that voice again. I feel like I've heard it before." Gray stood up.

"Well that's comforting." Natsu spoke sarcastically.

 _Help me._

The whisper sent a shiver down Natsu's spine. It _did_ sound familiar.


	11. Flames 6

Igneel soared though the night skies as the lands endeavoured nothing but the blood and screams of war. Eventually they arrived in Mildian. Resha dismounted the red dragon holding her dead child, before gently resting him on the ground.

"Zeref!" She called out to the boy running towards her. "I want you to do something for me." She wanted to cry, but remained strong for her son.

Zeref ran over to his little brother, "What happened? Why isn't he waking up?" he already figured the answer, but started shaking him, "Natsu wake up!" despite his effort, he could see his brother was dead and began to tear up, "Natsu." he sobbed.

Resha walked over and knelt down next to Zeref. She hugged him and whispered, "I want you to place your brother to his final rest." She placed a hand on either side of his face and gently lifted it up. "Zeref look at me." He looked up to her, "Do not shed tears." She wiped away the tears of his cheeks, "I want you to stand up and remember I am always with you." She smiled, "I want you to show me how you will live, speak of your future." Zeref stood up and wiped away the rest of his tears.

"And that shall become your will to live." She walked over back to Igneel. It wasn't something a child should have to do, but that was the reality of this world, you either sucked it up and move on or you stop and meet a swift end.

Zeref looked down at his brother before noticing that his mother was leaving, "Mum? Where are you going?"

"I'm going to change the future. It might be bad, it might be good. Life is never easy. But I know that somewhere in the future, it will prosper. Promise me you'll do as I asked." She began to mount Igneel as he spread out his wings.

Zeref looked away, "I promise."

She knew there and then a new path had been made. How far it will go? She wasn't entirely sure. But something gave her the impression that Natsu's role was far from over. Before there was any more exchanges, she left. Zeref knew she wouldn't say goodbye that wasn't her way. Because that would mean they wouldn't ever see each other again. He also knew deep down he wasn't to see her again in this life. But he was yet to learn of how long it would take before he could see her again.

* * *

While the others searched in the house, Natsu and Gray waited outside. To pass the time, Natsu somehow found himself with his mother's diary in his hands. He read through each page with a sense of disbelief. This was his mother. Four-hundred years ago. And about mid-way through Zeref was mentioned for the first time. A few pages after that is when he saw his own name.

 _July 8_ _th_ _X392_

 _I had another son. I named him Natsu. Just like the summer he is my light, my hope, my warmth. They both are. He looks a lot like his brother only he has his father's hair colour and eyes. Their last name is Dragneel, just like mine. The dragon Igneel. They have that burning fire in them. But, I see Natsu and Zeref are very different. I can tell by the fire that burns in them._

 _Their father is off to fight in this wretched war. The great war of dragons and people. When my strength is back I will go back to my army. The revolution has begun. Change will happen._

 _However, the Gods have grown bored._

It was strange seeing that date and his name. That was him. Natsu Dragneel of four-hundred years ago.

"How long are you going to read that?" Gray looked down at the pages. He'd read it too and could see it was making Natsu uncomfortable. Nevertheless, Natsu continued to read. "It's not going to change anything."

Natsu read on anyways remaining silent. He only remembered his death. Right now, it was still a point that he'd lived his whole life. With Igneel. With Fairy Tail. Without knowing anything about his family. "I want to remember."

"But it wont- "Gray sighed knowing Natsu would keep on reading regardless. "It's not going to get you anywhere Natsu. Don't let it get to you."

"It's something though. I don't care what it is. Of course there's nothing happy. But this is a part of me." He sounded disheartened by his own words. "I'd wondered a few times growing up what my family could have been like. I hoped that, if they did die, it was because of something- I don't know. Just-" He wasn't really sure what to think anymore.

Gray scowled, "Natsu this doesn't define you. You need to remember that. So stop beating yourself up over all this. That might be you, but that shouldn't change who you are now."

"I guess you're right. But I'd still like to know." He turned the page.

 _November 13th X396_

 _Their father retuned from war today. It's only temporary leave though. He comes back to us every now and then. But, every time he returns I see less of the man I fell in love with. I see more of a demon than human. I guess that's what happens in war. I don't want my children to become that._

 _This war has to end. He wasn't happy about the efforts I've made. We help the people I told him. But he got angry, saying all this bullshit about how we make the army look bad. We take their job and get in their way. I found myself having more and more arguments with him. He doesn't like that I know magic. Let alone dragon slayer magic. He doesn't like that Zeref enjoys reading, or that Natsu always gets into fights. No. Actually he likes that part. But he doesn't like that Natsu loses. But what does he expect, he's only 4! "You can't stop" he says, "Stop and you die. Weakness must be buried only strength can survive" he always reminds them both, it makes sense, but it's passed on with the wrong intent. The ideology that you can only win, that you should only protect yourselves._

 _He doesn't like my last name either or that I never took his. He doesn't like that our children have my last name. He calls it weak and pathetic. But Igneel saved me. I am the dragon's daughter. No human will rule me again. Not even my love. But my love has gone. The man I see now isn't human. He doesn't know who I was. No punches he gives me, or bottles he throws at me will cause me pain. I am too numb from it. However, he also hurts my children and that's when I hurt him back. He can beat me to his heart's content. But not them. Zeref has cuts on his body from where he threw a glass bottle at him in a drunken fit a week ago. Natsu has a black eye trying to stop him from hurting me._

 _It won't be long though. When he won't hurt us again. No one will._

Natsu sighed. He honestly didn't know what to expect anymore. Gray had read it too and before Natsu read anymore, he took the diary from him and closed it. "I think your done reading. You're only damaging yourself doing that. I think you forget how well I know you. Fairy Tail is your family. You've saved us more times than I can count. Let us return that."

He made no effort to get it back, "Sorry, I don't-"

"Gyahh!" There was a loud crash from in the house. The two sprung up and ran inside. They found a hole in the floor. Lucy was at the bottom of it, surrounded by some rubble.

"Ow." She rubbed her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Natsu shouted down to her.

"Y-yeah. I don't think the house is though." She laughed uneasily, "It's really dark down here."

"I guess you haven't found anything yet. You've been here for a while." Gray glanced around the house, finding it hard to believe that Natsu lived here once.

Erza and Wendy ran down the stairs, "Are you okay Lucy-san?" Wendy peered down the hole.

"Yeah I'm fine. Probably a few bruises. I think there's something down here." It was dark where she'd ended up, but in the dim light Lucy could make out a whole room. Natsu eventually jumped down and used his fire to give them light.

Lucy was astonished. Within moments some of the fireflies had made their way in, and the place became a clearer. Carla and Happy lifted Wendy down. While Erza and Gray both jumped in.

Natsu looked around with a sense of unease, the more fireflies that entered the room providing light, the larger the surrounding area became. There were bookshelves filled with some tattered books on one end. On the other was something that looked like a giant broken egg.

"What is all this?" Erza approached the egg-like object. "This looks like what the Tartaros demons put Mira and Minerva in."

"They could revive the members too." Lucy added.

Natsu stepped away with the sudden realization what the broken egg was. He only went in earlier to see if Lucy was okay. And now he was here. In some creepy room underneath the house. He'd begun to feel sick.

 _Help me._

"It's that voice again?" Wendy searched around, but she couldn't find any possible source.

Lucy trembled, "H-hey. You don't think that could be a. a ghost?"

"It's not impossible. Whatever happened here wasn't good. It looks like there could have been a war here." Erza didn't seem too fazed by the voice. "It sounds familiar though."

* * *

"Are we going back to Istabella?" Igneel asked as he flew through the skies of Alvarez and begun to enter Ishgal territory.

"Yes. There's someone I need to talk to." She was anxious.

"You mean something. That thing is no longer human Resha. Do you plan on meeting your death?" The dragon was annoyed with her.

She sighed, having noted Igneel's annoyance, "I must see him. I know I can't kill him. But I need to know why. Why did he betray both human and dragon?"

He knew it was pointless to change her answer. "What of your son?"

"He's going to do something. He will succeed in doing so too." She didn't want to think about the fact that she had just abandoned him, with people he didn't know and a land he was unaccustomed to.

He mused, "Do what exactly? And how do you know?"

"The Gods grow bored Igneel. That's why we have this mess. My sons are going to be placed in the centre of the new era. A new war." She was brief with her answer, "We must hurry."

 _Sons?_ Igneel didn't question her further. He always knew she was special in some way. He wouldn't have been surprised if she was in fact a demi-God, and that what she spoke of was true. It was only a human who would challenge a god. Dragons were of a long forgotten world. The world where the Gods used to roam the lands not the heavens. Igneel knew that the dragon race was coming to a close just as the God race did. But if what Resha said was true. Then there was something he must do before he truly leaves this world.

They ventured into their last battle together. A new era was to begin.

* * *

Natsu remained silent while the others began searching through the books.

"Hey Natsu look what I found" Happy held up a mushroom that appeared to light up at the touch.

However, Natsu gave little response and only smiled a little, causing Happy to frown. He'd noticed his friend was in distress. "Do you want me to take you back up?"

"N-no I'm fine." He wasn't being very reassuring with his answer.

Erza began to get frustrated as she looked through the books, "It has to be here!"

 _So cold._

The voice whispered again. Gray froze when he heard it again. He remembered whose voice it was. He turned around to see Natsu had moved from his previous spot. Natsu approached one of the bookcases. He'd seen a book. It didn't really stand out, but it was defiantly different from the others.

"Natsu!" Gray ran over to him as he went to pick up the book. Natsu was in a complete trace and gave no reply. He _knew_ the voice.

 _Come back to me._

The others soon realized the same. They knew that voice. Lucy, Wendy and Carla hadn't heard it before. But it did sound similar to what they had heard. It was a child's voice. Natsu reached out for the book. As soon as he touched it he collapsed.

Gray didn't reach him in time. _The voice was Natsu's._

Gray shook him, "Natsu wake up!" he shook him again.

Lucy rushed over to the tattered book. It had no name and it didn't seem special. But when she opened it, she knew it must have been the book they were looking for.

 _To Natsu,_

 _Have you forgotten you promise to me? I thought you might. So here it is._

 _From the other half…_

"Natsu!" Gray shouted at him as Natsu opened his eyes.

He looked at the ice-mage blankly. "Eh?" Lucy looked down at the words, "from the other half." She muttered. Her eyes widened. She turned to Natsu who gazed blankly at the wall behind Gray.

"H-hey Natsu?" Gray shook him for a response. He got nothing but a blank gaze. He was still breathing and yet he felt cold. Dead.

Help me.

The voice echoed throughout the room. It sounded like a child. But, it was defiantly Natsu's voice.

Natsu closed his eyes. Erza knelt down next to him checking his temperature. It felt normal again, "I think he's fallen asleep." She looked at the others, "Don't worry." She paused, "He's always pulls through right?" Despite her words however, she was worried.

Lucy tried to turn the pages in the book but they wouldn't budge. Like they were glued together. "No it can't be." She was in horror.

"What is it Lucy?" Happy asked having trusted Erza's words.

"The being." She panicked.

"What being?" Carla questioned.

Lucy paced around nervously,

 _The being was two-_

 _-"I am actually of one form"-_

 _-"But you will only meet my one."_

She continued, "in the diary Resha said the God's had grown bored. If I remember rightly. She say it repetitively throughout most of her entries." She paused hoping she was just overthinking things. "I think a God might have used Natsu and Zeref."

"What?" Erza couldn't comprehend, this was too much for all of them.

"From the other half. That's what it says here. The poem described the being separating the brothers. But it also said it was of one form." Her panic lead her to simply repeat herself but with different wording.

Erza looked at the book and read what the only readable page stated, "What are you saying?"

"Two beings. Life and Death. One form. The God." She stated. "Ankhseram. The God of Life and Death." She hesitated her words. "Death cursed Zeref. Life brought Natsu back. The book says about Natsu making a promise. If I'm right, then he made a promise with life."

"Natsu what did you do?" Gray muttered.


	12. Hereafter 1

**Book 3: Hereafter**

The group felt no need to keep looking around the abandoned house, where Natsu had once lived in another life. It seemed they had their answers. A book written from a mysterious being. Lucy speculated to be one half of Ankhseram. Which, oddly enough, was the most sense they could have made. Yet, all they had done is solve one book. Only to replace it with another. One that wouldn't even open. However, that wasn't their only problem. Natsu wasn't waking up.

Wendy continued to use her healing magic, despite not even knowing what it was she was healing. "It's been a week now." She began to cry out of frustration.

Gray tried to remain his usual calm self, but it was proving difficult. "His temperature keeps going hot and cold. Not to mention how shallow his breathing is. I've never seen him this bad."

Lucy frowned, keeping a tight hold on an upset blue cat. She kept telling herself that he'd pull through. But, she kept having a sicking thought of what he might be like when he wakes up.

Gajeel placed a hand on Wendy's head. "You've done all you can kiddo. I'm sure salamander will wake up soon. You'll worry him if he wakes up to see you lookin tired." Of course he wasn't so sure himself, they may have their differences but it was discouraging to see Natsu in what was clearly pain. Nonetheless, his words seemed to convince her enough to stop.

"We need to prepare ourselves for the inevitable." Mavis suddenly appeared behind them.

"M-Mavis! What do you mean?" Erza turned around.

"A war with Zeref." Makarov and Laxus walked into the infirmary.

Everyone was astonished, although deep down they knew it was going to happen eventually, they just wished they had more time.

"Alvarez I presume?" Erza asked.

"It's only a matter of time before they attack us." Mavis paused looking around the room of concerned faces, "It's what Zeref wants." She looked to Natsu lying on the bed, suffering from cold shivers running through his body. "He wants his brother back. So he can die." She muttered to herself. However no one heard her.

It was pitch black and from within the darkness Natsu knew he wasn't alone. There were murmurs of mad men surrounding him. Where he was exactly he couldn't say. Was he in the book? Maybe. But, which book? E.N.D? Or that mysterious one he picked up. The one from the other half. Who was that? It sounded familiar. Well it probably was, since apparently he'd made them a deal. Or was it a promise? He couldn't remember. Either way it wasn't going to equate to anything easy.

Natsu pondered in the darkness for a while. Oddly enough the voices surrounding him should have made him fearful. But, it didn't. It didn't faze him at all. It felt. Comforting. Even though the voices were clearly insane, screaming out in pain. To be let out. To die.

 _Die?_

No that book wouldn't have killed him. He still felt a vague warmth. He was still alive. But it still made him wonder where in the hell was he? At least his mind anyway. Somewhere in the distance among the voices of the insane, Natsu could just make out some of his guild mates voices. They didn't seem to echo however making him believe that he was in this place alone.

"I knew you'd forget your promise to me. Natsu." A voice called out in the darkness. Natsu spun around trying to locate it, but like all the other voices it echoed around him. Even with his eyesight it was too dark to see, and he couldn't seem to use his magic.

"Having trouble child?" The voice boomed again.

"W-who are you?" Natsu gave up trying to see. It was too dark and the echoing was actually making him disoriented and triggering his motion sickness.

The voice laughed, "Well that's just plain insulting. I mean I figured your brother messed up your memories. But, don't you have them back?"

Natsu felt nauseous, "N-not exactly."

"Hmph. Well then." The voice sighed, sounding truly let down it had been forgotten. "I am Life. At least life is what you would say in your language."

"Life?" Natsu tried and tried again to use his magic. There was defiantly something, but he didn't seem to be getting anywhere.

"What's wrong child. Do you fear me?" The voice laughed again, "You shouldn't. You didn't last time and you were much smaller and weaker then. Or have you become so reliant on that magic of yours you feel scared without it."

"Shut-up I'm not scared." He was trembling.

Natsu tried to remember, but it was like it was the only thing being blocked. He'd managed to remember everything else. At least everything after he'd been revived. And of course his happier second, or maybe third life in Fairy Tail. But his first life. Nothing. Darkness. Like he didn't want to remember.

"That's it isn't it. You don't fear me. Life. You fear _it_. Death." The words sent shivers down Natsu's spine.

This being, 'Life'. Was talking about such things as creatures as living things. That's what Natsu feared. He didn't want to remember dying. Remembering such things would make him acknowledge what awaits him at the end. He didn't want to know what awaited him. But he'd cheated death somehow. That knowledge he gained from it was his punishment. It was only a matter of time before that punishment actually came into play. Was this one of his brother's pawns too? Was this Zeref's way of saying that as brothers they must suffer the same fate? Same suffering?

"Let me erase that fear and grant you knowledge Natsu." Natsu felt as though this being was near him. Behind him. But he saw nothingness. Darkness. An empty space. Yet it was as though something was looming over him. Crushing him further into the darkness. "Let me help you remember."

Natsu shook in fear, "No. No. No. No I don't want to. I don't want to remember. Don't make me remember. Whatever that promise was, I'll do it. But please. Please don't make me remember." _What am I saying? Of course I want to remember. No. No I don't._ "I don't know. I don't know. Help me." He pleaded with a sense of hopelessness. His mind had become so clouded he began contradicting himself. Or rather he was thinking of two different things and entwining them as one.

Regardless, he had no choice in the matter. Before he knew it, he had memories of another time rushing through his head. There were things he realized he'd remembered when E.N.D was unsealed. But it was enough to hurt his brain. But the memories didn't stop there.

He was young. A boy. A woman. A man. Men with swords. Spears. Arrows. A dragon. A black dragon. A red dragon. Fire. Death. Everything.

"'Do you remember your promise now?" The voice seemed softer now.

"Yes." Natsu answered out of fear.

"Then what is it?" It replied.

"Fix your mistake. Your other half." He was almost in a trance.

"You must do this Natsu. You were my only salvation. My other half was bored and cursed your brother. Zeref challenged us too much so it made him a good test subject for my other. But that's what humans are meant to do. Challenge us Gods. Because us Gods are simply and old life. A forgotten history. Humans need to challenge us so they don't repeat our mistakes. But that's just it. They don't. Because some Gods get bored and put fear into you humans by cursing those who do." The voice sighed. "What your brother did, using deaths curse, granted me an opportunity. To put it right. He wanted to revive you. But that isn't what death does. So I interfered like my other half. To create a balance. Now I want you to restore the order. Show the God's that humans can challenge them. That humanity won't repeat their- no, our mistakes."

The room suddenly lit up changing from black to white. The echoing voices disperse.

"I want you to win, I want to see what you'll do." The voice began to fade. "Your brother is my other half. A _nd you are me."_ The voice faded. Natsu was alone. It was silent.


	13. Hereafter 2

Levy had grown to be desperate and try to pry the book simply with force, but it launched out of her hands and fell onto the table in front of her. It slowly began to open.

She jumped out of her seat, "Eh! Th- that seriously worked?!" Gajeel and Erza ran into the library to investigate what the commotion was about.

"Levy what happened!?" Erza approached her.

"You got it open! I knew you could do it shrimp." Gajeel patted her head. Knowing how much she hate that.

"I-I didn't do anything. Well, not really." She was still startled, "It just, kinda, opened."

"Well either way it seems to be open. Just as we hoped there seems to be writing in here." Erza was probably getting her hopes up, but at this point she didn't care. She just wanted something to go right.

Levy hesitantly picked up the book and began reading through it before sighing.

Gajeel frowned knowing all too well what that sigh meant, along with the concentrated look on her face. "It's not in our language is it?"

She began to decipher what the characters were. "I honestly don't know what language this is. I might need Freed's help. I'll try find something while we wait for him to get back with the others. I'm sorry you guys."

Erza smiled, "it's okay Levy. It's something."

Levy knew why Erza was trying to push this so far, "Porlyusica said that Natsu's condition might even be partly due to exhaustion" She began looking through the book. '"He's pushing himself too much." She mumbled.

Porlyusica sat next to Natsu's bed, keeping check on his temperature. His breathing had gotten heavy and he'd been feverish for a couple of hours. She's sent Wendy and Carla home so Wendy could get some rest herself. Additionally, Natsu had gotten so bad that her magic wasn't really changing much. The others were trying to keep themselves distracted from the impending event that will be war.

Natsu gradually opened his eyes while still almost panting from his excessive heat, which even bothered him. He seemed dazed and confused on his surroundings, eventually his eyes managed to adjust and made out a purplish haired old woman. "P-Porlyusica?" His throat was dry and voice was barley a whisper.

"You need to rest Natsu." Seeing him like this now proved her right into thinking his comatose state wasn't the book, but exhaustion. At least not entirely the book as she also began to realize.

"I'm sor-sorry."

She showed a disheartened smile, "No one's blaming you for anything. So don't apologise. Rest." She once again checked his temperature. It was close to being a 'code blue' as the hospital staff would call it. With that in mind she began to wonder if Natsu should actually be in the hospital receiving proper medical treatment rather than here. But she understood the circumstances and as critical as he was right now. The hospital might not even be able to help him. It wasn't long before he'd fallen asleep again. Natsu's mind had been placed under too much stress these past few months. It was only a matter of time before he'd reached a breaking point.

After a while company had arrived. Company that she specifically said she didn't want. But these days these kids would test her regularly.

"How is he?" Lucy asked. With Happy flying straight to Natsu's side.

"He woke up briefly before. But he was heavily dazed and confused." She sighed.

The old woman heavily stressed he was tired, with the hope that it would sink into their heads that Natsu's condition was normal in the circumstances. "He'll only grow more tired if you all keep coming here with those worried looks." She protested. Clearly signalling for them to leave. But as she expected, they weren't listening.

Natsu began mumbling in his sleep whilst becoming agitated. His fever was getting worse and that damage was severely affecting him mentally, as well as on a physical level. Lucy sat on to the bed and held his hand. It was shaking with the rest of his body. "It's okay Natsu. We're still with you." He gripped her hand tightly.

"I'm sor-" His voice was nothing more than a whisper, she could barely hear him.

Lucy wasn't sure if he was half awake or talking in his sleep at this point. She didn't know what to do other than gently stroke his head. It seemed to calm him down a little.

"Natsuuu." Happy rested his paw on Natsu's arm and frowned.

Gray and Juvia joined them. "He knows we're still here. And he knows we wouldn't just give up on him. Just like he's never given up on us. I guess Porlyusica is right." He sighed. _He's pushed himself too much, too long and it's finally catching up with him._

Natsu had been pretty bad ever since his picked up that first book and read the note left from the old man. But Gray thought they'd already been through the worst of it. But, now looking at him he could tell that those forgotten memories were here to stay.

"The idiot isn't the type to give up so easily. And he doesn't break his promises. He isn't going anywhere. I won't let him." Judging from the smile he got from Lucy, he seemed to convince them. Not that he was lying. But in the situation it's possible to assume that Natsu's too tired to go on. For once Natsu might have accepted defeat. But Gray wanted that to be temporary. He wasn't letting Natsu go out like that. If he had to carry him for a while then that was fine, but he wasn't leaving him behind. None of them were.

Later Erza had returned, "How is he?"

She frowned, "As I mentioned to the others," she sighed at the repetition yet understood their worry, "-he woke up briefly. However, his body won't let him stay awake, he's that exhausted. So let him rest." She was getting ready to kick them all out of the room. She knew that if he saw them, he'd want to stay awake in the belief that it would ease their worry. It wouldn't and it would make him sicker, if that was even possible.

The group eventually got the hint and realized they couldn't stay here. It would achieving absolutely nothing. They also knew that if it was them in that bed, he'd be out there finding the solution. Or fighting the solution. Either way, sitting around worrying wasn't his thing. And it wasn't theirs either. But none of them knew what to do.

That was until Levy ran in saying she'd translated the book. '"Guy's I think there's something you need to see." Her face became solemn as she began to explain.

The tale of 400 years ago. The one of the dragon slayers. Anna. Layla. Zeref. And the eclipse gate. The tale of the demon king E.N.D.

"Don't forget this time Natsu. I've gone through a lot of trouble to achieve what I have with that book." The voice echoed through Natsu's ears.

Of course Natsu was alone at this point and responding would have been pointless. He remained silent and tried to organize his head. He didn't get very far, as he began to open his eyes and see Porlyusica sat by the bed he appeared to be in. He assumed he was in the infirmary.

He made an attempt to wake up and reassure everyone he was okay. But, all he could muster was the old woman's name, before drifting off into a deep sleep. He couldn't understand why he felt so tired. He tried and tried to wake up, but his mind and body weren't letting him. Almost like it was finally giving him a long and overdue response that it's time to rest for a while. Which of course Natsu didn't like. Nonetheless, his body seemed to have developed its own thoughts and feelings and was drawing the line on how far Natsu could push himself. Yet, he couldn't shake himself from thinking how Zeref is still out there and running a country no less, war was imminent.  
Then there was Acnologia. He needed to fulfil Igneel's final request. The reason why he shed his demon curse for dragon slaying magic. To Natsu this was no time to rest. However, this exhaustion left him in a dark abyss and left him to do nothing but think rather than act.

 _Why does it have to be me? Why do I have to clean up my brother's mess? Why do I have to clean up the dragons mess? This guilds mess? I'm not supposed to even be here. So why am I having to go to the ends of the earth of the people who are supposed to be here? What am I doing? I don't want this. I'm tired._

It sounded melodramatic to him at first. Family is family. The point of that isto go to the ends of the earth for them. But it should be more like you go to the ends of the earth withthem.  
Natsu felt more and more alone with each passing day. He believed them when they would tell him that they're not leaving him. However, they don't understand what this situation is like for Natsu. If Zeref dies. Natsu dies too. If Zeref dies, this will all be over. Natsu had since remembered the other dragon slayers had come from four-hundred years ago too. That wasn't just for him to do. It felt like they were leaving him behind, intentional or not. Nevertheless, everyone will finally have peace. Except Natsu. Natsu won't get to see that. He's done so much over the years that it really hit him hard to find out that eventually, it'll equate to nothing in his eyes. That peace he fought for. He won't even get to see. The problem was that they were trying to fix that, while ignoring the blatant truth. Natsu had already died. The reality was, there was nothing the fix.

 _I shouldn't be here._

It was these thought's that caused his exhaustion in the first place. It was borderline depression. But Natsu had barley been awake for anyone to pick up on it and even if he was, he'd go out of his way to hide it. He was ashamed that it gotten this far, but he'd become a pretty good actor at this point.  
He remembered everything when he touched that book. This time he's not forgetting. These thoughts running through his head over and over were spurring on the exhaustion. But he didn't care, because he doesn't see the point anymore. It was a selfish way of thinking, however he doesn't want to fight anymore. _I'm tired._ Why should he fight for a peace he won't get to see? Why should he suffer for the sake of others getting peace? When they'rethe ones who destroyed the peace in the first place. Why should someone who shouldn't be here have to go through life again only to sacrifice themselves?

Weeks passed and eventually Natsu was on his feet, questionably. He decided to hide his feelings, so his friends didn't know. They didn't know that Natsu was fighting for his life every second of every day. His mind had shut down completely, he wanted to disappear.

Everyone was scattered around Ishgal, collecting as much information as they could that could help them with this inevitable war. As well as informing other guilds. A war was obvious at this point. The people of the lands had become uneasy. Trading had slowed down between countries. Dark guilds had gone silent.

It was the calm before the storm.

"I swear this guild is getting quieter by the day." Macao looked around the half empty guild hall.

Wakaba took a puff of his cigarette, "I guess things change. I mean, we've been through too much. Those kids ain't kids no more. Which makes us even older." He looked over to the table where the main crew were sat. "It's only a matter of time before they're the old folks. That's including your Romeo."

Macao sighed at the thought. He looked over to his son who was sat next to Natsu. Natsu was still a guiding light to him, but he'd noticed that light had dimmed in recent months. He solemnly smiled as he looked down into his glass, "I guess age does that."

Whenever they could, job requests were still being accepted, after all the mages still had payments to meet. It also gave them a break every now and then. To relieve themselves of any tension. If it wasn't the people, it was the guild mates themselves. Everyone had become aggravated and many had quit guilds across all of Fiore, causing many guilds to shut down altogether. Many signed up to take on jobs, not to become a soldier. Not everyone was a fighter, which was a fact that needed to be respected. Yet, people's heads had become so much of a mess, that these people who walked away were being regarded as spineless wimps. Anyone who tried to defend them only ended up in a fight.

Fortunately, the guilds remained strong. Those who wavered, left. Those who knew that this was something that had to happen, something they had to be a part of. They stayed. And they stayed strong with their fellow guild mates.

"I think we should do this job." Erza walked over to the gang holding a request for killing a monster in a nearby village.

"D-do we have too? I mean we just got back from a job. And it was far from fun." Lucy grumbled remembering how Gray, Natsu and Erza carried out their usual charade of destroying not only the Wyvern. But also its scales that they were supposed to take. And of course removing some of the forest. And a few houses. And there went most of her rent money. Again.

"That was nearly a week ago. And we felt bad so we gave you all the money-" Gray glared down at her. "-that paid your rent. So you owe us." He was waiting for her to hit him for such a response.

"And whose fault was that?" She glared at the two boys.

"Aw lighten up Luce." Natsu grinned only to get an exhausted sigh in response. Since it was mainly his fault and he knew it.

"Come on, it's not far. I won't let there be any trouble this time. I got too carried away. I am terribly sorry Lucy. You should punish me for it." Erza fell into her typical overdramatic acting. "And you two." She pointed at Natsu and Gray "I will punish both of you if either of you cause any trouble."

"A-aye." They grumbled as they could both recall her being just as bad.

"You guys really need to hold back you know." Romeo stated, "I mean. When was the last time you actually got paid the same amount the awards stated." The boy was met with awkward silence. He'd clearly hit the nail on the head as per usual.

"I'm surprised I can still make enough for rent with these guys." Lucy slumped over the table. "Maybe I should go on some jobs with Wendy and Carla more often." She mumbled hoping not to offend the others. Those two still came out with them. But then did what Lucy should be doing, which was go off on their own sometimes.

"But we're a team!" Happy chirped.

"Hey. It's not just us you know. You're no better. Especially since you can do that star-thingy." Natsu pointed out in annoyance.

"Stardress." She corrected him, without making any more points, knowing full well he was right. Their recklessness had rubbed off on her, and it wasn't a new occurrence with her. Particularly whenever she summoned Loke or Taurus, they both seemed to have the typical Fairy Tail recklessness in them.

"Well then it's settled. We'll leave in the next hour." To Erza it was settled. Really no one had agreed to anything. But they just accepted it and prepared to leave.

"It should be somewhere around here according to the village people." Lucy glanced around the woodland. The only thing she could hear were trees dancing in the wind. As for seeing, it was trees, trees and more trees.

"Maybe it's sleeping?" Happy questioned.

"I don't think so." Gray looked up to the blue sky peering through the trees. "There's no wildlife here. So I'm guessing it's nearby." He sounded calm, but just stating that out loud actually unsettled him.

Natsu tried to listen out for something, but his hearing only proved Gray's point. "I- I can't hear anything." He spoke in a confused tone.

"Well if there's no animals, then I guess that's its normal that it's quiet." Erza glanced over to him noticing his confused look.

"No. I mean. I can't hear anything _._ " He looked around and noticed that the trees suddenly stopped. The wind had died. Silence.

The others soon noticed, "Huh?" Lucy looked up. The sky had gone black.

Erza continued searching. The further she walked, the more she noticed the leaves on the floor. Eventually, she looked up to the trees. They looked like they were dying. She swivelled around only to realize she must have walked off. She was alone. The worrying part was she couldn't hear anyone. Only her own breathing.

Through the trees she saw a silhouette of a tall person. Possible male. It was far away so she couldn't make out a face. She began walking towards it. It didn't have Natsu's spikey hair and was too tall to be either of the two boys she knows so well.

As she drew near her face turned white.

'I died to save you. Not that pathetic thing you call a _friend_.' He whispered.

"Si-Simon?"

Gray had also found himself suddenly alone. Only it was odd. He didn't remember walking off, nor did he remember anyone aside from Erza walking off either. '"hat the-?"

He felt like he was being watched. The feeling sent shivers down his spine. Yet the only things he could see was trees, and most of them didn't even look living anymore. Gray felt the temperature drop and it quickly came in view what was watching him intently.

His eyes widened, "No this can't be happening- how-"

"I didn't suffer all that time, so I could hear you make an empty promise." The voice echoed through him. "I thought family was important."

"D-dad?" Gray was in shock. He couldn't move.

"You don't get to call me that." Silver hissed. "That monsteris still alive, and here you are still treating him like he's your brother. Why are you protecting that- atrocity?"

Gray was speechless. This didn't sound like the man he knew. And why was he suddenly here? Was this the monster the villagers wanted dead?

"G-guys? Natsu? Where are you?"

Happy flew through the woods shaking in fear. He felt like he was going in circles. Everyone just. Vanished. Everything looked the same. He tried to go back to the village, but this place was like a labyrinth. What put him on edge even more was the voices that screamed through the trees. He couldn't make out what they were. He just hoped that his friends were okay.

Lucy began to wander aimlessly around what she saw as a blossoming woodland. Yet, still no other signs of life, except her and the trees.

"Guys this isn't funny!" She shouted. "You guys!" her shouts had become desperate, "Anyone?!"

She began to develop an uneasy feeling that something was wrong. She didn't even remember leaving the others. The blonde mage was alone in this maze. With each step, she began to become more and more disorientated. So eventually stopped. However, the moment she did, the leaves began to fall around her and turned into a rapid dull decayed mass.

"H-hello?" She wanted to believe someone was playing a trick on her. That the trees hadn't suddenly just started rotting. That this wasn't real. But it felt every bit real.

"You should have listened to your father." Lucy turned around in shock. It was her mother, "Why didn't you listen to him?" Her voice sounded calm. But there was a hint of anger in her pale face.

"What?"

"How could you go with him? He shouldn't be here!" That tone of anger began to show in her voice.

Lucy stood in shock, trying to process what was happening. "What are you-?"

"He used me! Zeref used me! Used our family! I didn't want to help him! I wanted my daughter to have a future!" She looked in pain, "Why did you go! Why did you follow that- that- _thing_! WHY DID YOU FOLLOW IT?!" She screamed.

"Natsu listen to me." The voice surround Natsu as he fought to ignore it.

"No. Shut up! You're not real. You're not real. You. You're not- " Natsu tried running, but the voice followed him.

"Naaaatsu. Don't be like that. You know I'm right." The voice laughed. "They don't care about you. You wouldn't be here if they did. If only they knew. Come on Natsu. I know you better than any of those pathetic, naïve, brainless apes." It cackled with the wind.

"Shut up!" Natsu screamed.

"I am you. And I know what you know. I know how you feel. So just give in. You're tired. Tired of running. Of fighting. So why don't you let me take control for a while." The dark figure grabbed Natsu's arm.

When Natsu looked it in the eye, he saw himself. It was him. It was his voice. It was E.N.D. The E.N.D that no one knows about. The one the really did create Tartaros. Hail havoc and chaos. The demon King. That's what Natsu was looking at now.

It grinned, "Let's have fun like we used to. Let's burn this world to fucking ashes." It began laughing again, as Natsu attempted to break free from its grip.

 _Let's become King again, Natsu._


	14. Hereafter 3

After what felt like hours wandering the forest, Happy eventually took to walking He'd gotten to the point where he wanted to find the village more than his friends. They were nowhere in sight, nowhere to be heard. All he could hear were whispers in the wind of unknown voices. Unknown words. He tried to block it out, but it was gradually driving the blue cat insane with fear and anxiety.

After some while, Happy's surroundings gradually changed. He came across an old abandoned house that was rotting away with the surrounding trees.

"What is this place?" His curiosity shook away most of his fear as he approached.

The absent door gave the cat his invitation to enter. Surprisingly, it wasn't as dark as he thought it'd be. In the largest room of this rundown house he found himself looking at a strange artefact.

"What is all this?"

Meanwhile, Natsu found himself unable to run any more. He was tired and there were so many trees, that they blocked out the sky above. Last he saw it the sky was a dark grey, but it was still light enough to see. Now it was just dark.

"See, you're tired. Let me have ago for a while." E.N.D teased.

No matter how far Natsu ran, it would just be there. Everywhere looked so parallel that Natsu began to wonder if he'd even ran anywhere in the first place. The moment he was surrounded by these ghastly rotten trees, was the moment he well and truly became lost. He'd become so disorientated that it made his head spin and caused him to throw up a few times.

"This isn't real. This isn't real." He fell to his knees in hopelessness.

E.N.D cackled, "I'm very real Natsu. If I wasn't. Then you wouldn't be real either. You'd just be dead. Right where you should be. 6ft under. Just like mu-"

"Shut up!"

There was a little ounce of light that tried to fight its way through the thick tree branches, however it was slowly fading away. Night was approaching. Natsu grew fearful of the sudden darkness. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to use his magic. He couldn't see anything. The only thing he could hear was the monster that was with him.

The only thing he could hear was himself.

Layla's sobbing sounds resonated throughout the forest. "I didn't want this. He told me if I didn't help then there'd be no one to stop that dragon. But I didn't want to help him too. And I didn't want Anna's efforts to be all for naught!" Her screams screamed with the wind.

"What are you saying?" Lucy was slowly piecing things together. That book already mentioned what had happened with the dragon slayers. It mentioned that it was Anna Heartfillia from four-hundred years ago and Layla together opened the eclipse gate. But it hadn't gone into too much detail. Did her mother actually meet Zeref? Why didn't she know about this?

"Zeref lied to me! He lied who he was! He lied about who I'd be bringing through the gate! He said dragon slayers, not dragon slayers and one of his demons! And you befriended it! Why! Why would you do that?!" She wailed.

Lucy was baffled by all of what she was saying. It didn't sound like her mother. She was kind and accepting. She wouldn't judge someone from what they were surrounded by. Why was she saying all of this?

"He'll kill you! They both will! He-"

"No he won't! Natsu has done nothing but save me! Why would he suddenly kill me! Who are you?! I know you aren't my mother!" She felt something in the pit of her stomach, which was telling her that this was very wrong. She thought maybe it was her mother's spirit. But something was telling her otherwise.

"I did nothing but suffer. For your sake. Why does he get to be revived? His life has been nothing but death. Then he comes here and has this happy-go-lucky life!" Silver shouted.

 _What the hell is going on? Why is he here? Why is he like this? What's going on?_ Gray could do nothing but fill his head with questions. He'd grown quite fearful of this thing in front of him. This thing with his father's voice and face. He wanted to run, but he felt like there was some force keeping in him place. He couldn't run anywhere.

"That thing is dead. It's not human. Why are you protecting that monster?" It shouted.

This situation felt like it'd lasted hours and Gray began to get frustrated. He slowly accepted and played along with what was happening, maybe if he did that he might get some answers.

"What the hell are you talking about? I know what I said. I will destroy that darkness. But I'm not killing Natsu!" He shouted back. "I don't know what you know. But the Natsu with me now is human. He's not a demon. And he's not Zeref's brother! He's not Zeref's puppet!"

Silver laughed, "I find it shameful how naïve my own son is. I mean, even after what I did! Even knowing it wasn't right that I was even there. You still couldn't kill me. Even knowing that killing me was showing me mercy! I WAS SUFFERING EVERY MOMENT I WAS REVIVED!"

Gray felt confused by his implication, "What is wrong with you? I'm not killing Natsu. He is alive right now and he has a chance to be alive and happy. After everything that has happened to him. He's always had our backs."

"Revival isn't natural Gray and deep down even you know that. It distorts and abuses the natural order. You know how long it took for that thing to be revived. Years! Do you honestly believe he is okay with that? I wasn't. Death frees us from the constraints this Earth has developed and Zeref has snatched that away from him. What Zeref had done to him is cruel and cold-hearted." His tone changed.

Suddenly Silver sounded calm, like his dad. Almost like whatever this was, had adjusted more to what it was acting as, or that maybe it hadn't been acting at all and was simply angry.

"I'm sorry. I'm dead Gray and Natsu should be too." Gray was stunned at the fact he even said Natsu's name, it made him feel a little guilty, "It's only a matter of time before he snaps. Before that darkness take him. It's not a darkness you can remove either. Because it's death itself. He was dead for too long. And even being dead at all. You can't revive. Zeref may have pushed that boundary. But at what price? There has to be a balance." He frowned.

Gray didn't know what to say. Was it right? Was it wrong? He didn't know anymore. All this time they assumed the price was Zeref's curse, but when he actually thought about it, Zeref already has the curse when he revived Natsu. In regards to the revival itself, who actually paid the price for that?

"It's hurting him more that you know. After what's happened. Sooner or later it'll hurt all of you. Death is his salvation Gray."

Gray looked down, "No. No it isn't. Not Natsu's. I know revival isn't normal or right. But Natsu has done more than enough to show he is alive right now. If he's in pain, then that's what we're here for. I. I-" He tried to hold back the tears brimming in his eyes, "I won't let him go out like that!" They were words he'd said a few times now and with each time he said it, it became harder to say.

It sniggered, "You pathetic child."

"Si-Simon what. What's going on?!" Erza began stumbling her words. "And what are you talking about? Natsu? This doesn't soun-" _No, this isn't Simon._

"Who are you?" Her fear and anxiety ceased. She managed to muster up a sword and drew it towards the being in front of her.

Simon laughed, "You know who I am. You just don't want to accept that I died for you. You pathetic girl!" Whatever it was, it was keeping up with its little act.

Erza was unmoved by the statement, "You're not Simon. Who are you and why are you doing all this!? What have you done with the others!?" She remained in her stance, not allowing her sword to waver.

"Alright then, if you're going to stay with that." Its voice changed into something unfamiliar, "Well I guess it's pointless keeping this up." It began morphing into a black shadow.

"You're a clever one Miss Scarlet. So many questions though. I guess that doesn't make you too clever. But even I can't answer some, so I'll give you a little leeway." It sighed, "You fairies are really ruining my fun."

The creature crept towards Erza until her sword was in range. "I'm not a _who_. Well, not anymore anyway. I'm more of a _what_. As for why?" It giggled, "I'm bored and I just. Can." It was very blunt with its response. This annoyed her but it was answering her questions, although condescending, she remained silent.

"You're friends? Ha they're scattered all over the woodland. And I think two of them are catching up with you though, which is no fun for me. But little Natsu-" It continued laughing, "He'll keep me entertained for days. I think he's too far gone. If you want out, then go right ahead. But you ain't gonna find him." Its laugh echoed through the whole forest, it even caused some of the tree's to shake.

"What are you talking about? What are you doing to him!?" Erza lowered her sword, having already figured out that this was an astral being. Physical objects wouldn't do much.

"Death does that you know. With the right push and information _,_ it'll drive you insane. I'm amazed he's held out this long. But I guess he didn't remember much." It giggled. "Oops."

Erza's patience was beginning to grow thin, "What have you done to him?! Where is he?"

Having said they were ruining its fun, made her assume the others aside from Natsu had figured it out and could possibly find an opening like her. Whatever this thing brought up with them, they'd likely already had closure with, so it makes sense they would have dismissed it. Erza came to the conclusion that she was in a position where she could only worry about one of her friends as they were all split up. Yet, also got the impression that this thing hadn't focused on Happy. That hopefully created more openings for them. So she placed her focus on trying to get to Natsu. Of course, finding him was easier said than done.

"Come ooonnnnn Natsu! Let me play." E.N.D persisted around him like a bored child who was seeking attention. Natsu sat up against a tree burying his face into his arms. Trying to block out the world.

"You're not real. You're not real. You're not real." He'd had become so lost, that all he could do was repeat himself, leaving him in a traumatic shock.

E.N.D knelt in front of him and grinned, glaring its sharp fangs, "Come ooonnn Natsuuuu. You're no fun. I'm so booored." It pined.

Eventually much to E.N.D's dismay, Natsu had stopped talking all together with his head still buried in his arms. "Naaaassuuuuu! Don't ignore me!" It howled, aching for attention. "I know you're listening." still no response. Natsu began to shake.

 _What is this? What's going on? What do I do? Where am I? What's happening to me? How do I leave? How do I get it to leave? Where is everyone? Why am I alone? Why am I here? I'm scared. Help me. I'm scared. I'm scared. Help me I'm scared I'm scared. Help. I'm scaredI'm scared,_ _Help me. I'm scared, I'm scared_ _I'm scared I'm scaredI'm scaredI'm scaredscaredI'm scared. So scared. Someone help me. Help me._

Happy searched around the house, trying to find something that would aid him in figuring out what was strange object was. He wondered if it was connected to the mysterious monster. The townspeople had said that anyone who ventures in the wood either don't return, or return insane. As for the monster itself, they were given no true description as the few, now insane, witnesses all said different things. Ranging from human to demonic.

He wanted to help his friends as soon as possible. Believing they were okay. Yet, they're sudden disappearance and the wailing wind were making him uneasy about the situation. It wasn't long before he heard footsteps. They were approaching the house quickly. Happy quickly hid.

The mysterious figure approached the house with caution, before supposing there wasn't much to it and entered.

"What the hell is that?" Happy lit up when he heard the voice and shot out from under the broken coffee table.

"Gray!" Happy flew into the figure.

"Happy!? What are you doing here?" Gray jumped out of his skin by the unexpected welcome.

"You all disappeared. I couldn't find anyone. I was all alone." His voice became quiet.

"Hm. I guess we all got split up then. Have you found anyone else?" He was hoping for a yes. But judging from how quiet the area was, he may have just asked a stupid question.

"No. I tried looking for everyone, but gave up and tried to leave and go back to the village. That's when I found this old looking house. Where did you go?"

Gray was still trying to answer that one himself, "I don't really know. But I think I found the monster. Or at least I've seen what it does to people. Have you found anything here?"

"You did! Did you beat it?" He perked up only to be shot down again as Gray shook his head in response.

"It just kinda left. I guess it wasn't happy I realized it was that monster."

"Huh what do you mean? Actually, I found a book that talks about a monster that sucks people into an illusion of their worst worries and nightmares. It must have driven people to insanity." Happy grabbed the book having answered his own question. "There's also that weird thing." He pointed to the mysterious object placed on the floor. "But I don't know what it is."

Gray knelt in front of it and examined it. "Hmm?" He pondered for a while what it could be. However his mind came to a blank.

Suddenly his heart came to a halt. He stood up and turned around. It was Lucy. She looked white as paper and her body was covered in cuts and bruises, possibly from tree branches. Her shoes had gone and her feet were coated in her own blood.

"Lucy!" before there could be any more of an exchange, the blonde collapsed.

Gray managed to catch her before she hit the ground. "Lucy what happened? Hey!"

She was barely conscious, "My mother- she-" As she made some effort to speak, tears trickled to the sides of her face.

"Lucy whatever happened it wasn't real." Gray tried to keep calm her down.

"I know. It's just- strange. Heh." She managed to smile. She felt slightly delusional, and wanted to laugh at her current state, "Don't worry. I don't know how, I guess I just lost my shoes along the way." She let out a small giggle. Seeing Gray and Happy reassured her a little.

Seeing her reaction Gray calmed down, "So what you just ran too far. Don't scare me like that!"

"Gray I think Lucy lost her head too."

"Heh, shut it cat." She felt too exhausted from running to shout at him.

She mustered herself to sit up having got some strength back, "I'm tired. Sorry. But I thought I heard screaming, after the spirit, monster- thing, left me because it said I was boring." She spoke in a confused tone. She didn't understand. Was this thing just screwing with them because it was bored?

"I guess that's why it left me too."

Gray helped her up before then easing her onto the run down sofa. It was better than the floor. Although Lucy wasn't so sure. She eased down anyway. She felt too lightheaded to dispute over it.

"You guys have both seen it?" Happy placed himself on Lucy's lap. He wanted to sit down too. Lucy seemed like a better sofa than the actual sofa.

"Haven't you?" Lucy looked at the blue cat, slightly unimpressed at what he had just done.

"No. You guys all just vanished. I tired looked for you all and that's when I found this place. Then Gray showed up. And now you're here. I kept hearing strange noises though. It didn't sound human. Maybe that was the monster?" Happy pondered.

"Speaking of this house. What is that?" She glanced over to what she saw Gray looking at when she first stumbled in, "and why is there a house in the middle of a creepy place like this?"

"I don't think anyone has lived here for a long time." Gray looked over to the artefact, "I don't even know what it is."

After some while, the three of them began to wonder if maybe that was the monster itself. Maybe they could help the other two if they just destroy it.

"I guess we were supposed to destroy something at some point." Lucy was far past the point of being surprised. No matter how complicated the situation, they always solved it by destroying something.

Gray couldn't help but think about what the monster had said to him. Even if it was just acting as his dad. It was so. Specific. "Hey Lucy, it's okay if you don't want to talk about it, but what did that thing say to you?"

"Huh? Well I mean. It was my mother." She hesitated, "But it didn't really act like her much. But it knew _._ It knew what she did. With the eclipse gate. Which made it hard to not believe it. But- well-" She tried to find the right words since she couldn't remember its exact words.

"She mentioned Natsu didn't she?" Gray already developed an idea where Lucy was going with this.

"Y-yeah. I'm guessing it said something similar to you." She frowned.

"Yeah. But it was a load of crap." He wanted to shrug it off, but kept relaying the words in his head. _Death is his salvation Gray._

"Just as I thought. I guess it happened to you both as well." The three of them turned to the door and sighed with relief upon seeing the armoured wizard. She looked perfectly fine. It was Erza of course.

"I figured you'd be okay." Gray smiled, happy to see that everyone was gradually making their way back to each other.

"Same to you guys." She hesitated. Despite her confident act, seeing Simon's face still shook her and not seeing Natsu here made her worry more.

"Erza? What happened?" Lucy asked.

"I think I hit a nerve with that thing. Since it decided not to act. It said to leave Natsu."

Gray walked up to her, "What!? Erza we're not-"

"I'm not suggesting that we're going to. I need you guys to find a way to destroy it. I need to find Natsu. I'm worried. I promise I'm going to bring him back."

"Erza let me come with you." Gray protested.

"No you stay here. Don't worry. Just find a way. The sooner you can, the sooner I can find Natsu. Gray trust me."

"Just find him soon." Lucy desperately wanted to go with her, but she knew she'd be more useful staying back.

 _Help me. Help me. Help me help me help me helpme. I'm scared. Help me. I'm scared. I'm scared. Help me I'm scared I'm scared. Help. I'm scaredI'm scared, Help me. I'm scared, I'm scared I'm scared I'm scaredI'm scaredI'm I'm scared. So scared. Someone help me. Help me. Someone. Don't leave me alone._


	15. Hereafter 4

Gray, Lucy and Happy continued to investigate the house. While Erza left to search for Natsu. Happy already stated it was pointless searching for Natsu using an aerial view, because the trees covered everything like a blanket.

Lucy glanced at the strange artefact, it looked like a chalice of sorts. They'd already figured that destroying it would destroy the monster. However, it was quickly deduced that it wasn't going to be an easy task.

"I'm really worried about Natsu." Lucy sneezed. "Ugh, it's getting pretty cold. How are you not wearing anything?!" The blonde glared at Gray, who was only wearing his boxers.

"It's not that cold, you're overreacting." He smirked at her. He was an ice devil slayer. Of course the cold wouldn't bother him. However, being around Natsu so often who also didn't get cold, made him forget that he was the inhuman one.

Gray felt uneasy as he could hear the tree's shuffling outside, it was like they were alive. To make matters worse, despite how much the trees blocked out the sky, the darkness still found a way to creep up on them.

"I think the sun is setting. It's getting harder to see." Lucy shook. Natsu's long absence was becoming disturbing.

Erza began to shout out of desperation, "Natsu!"

This time there was a scream. Not far from her current position, it sounded like Natsu causing her to bolt off in that direction.

Eventually she stopped as everything returned to silence. "Gyaa!" She felt a hand touch her.

"I didn't think you could scream like that. That was too easy." The recognisable voice laughed at its accomplishment.

Erza turned around and hit him, "Natsu this isn't time to be screwing around! We were worried about you!" She sighed with relief, "Where the hell have you been?"

Natsu composed himself having noted his friend's distress, "Chill out will you. This place is a maze. I was following your scent earlier, only to just end up more lost and with nothing to follow."

Erza still wasn't impressed with Natsu's sudden appearance, but at the same time was happy to see he was okay.

"What happened before?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I heard you shout."

"Eh? What are you talking about? I don't know what you heard, but that wasn't me." Natsu looked around he seemed eager to change the subject, "Have you found the others?"

She wasn't sure how to take Natsu's abrupt response. But went along with it, "I have. They're at this abandoned house. I remember the way back, so we should hurry before it gets too dark."

"Natsuuuu!" Happy flew into his best friends arms with joy.

"Hey sorry I didn't mean to worry you." Erza followed him into the house.

"So much for making us worried." Gray had lit a fire just outside, while Lucy had found some candles to light up the inside.

"Well I'm sorry this place is a maze and the wind was making it hard to catch onto anyone's scent." He grumbled.

"You guys figure that thing out yet?" Erza walked over to Lucy who was holding the chalice like object, examining it.

"No. Other than destroying it is proving to be difficult." She sighed.

"Wait why does it need destroying?" Natsu interrupted.

"Well we found a hint that might suggest that it's linked to the monster. Destroying that will most likely kill it. And the townspeople won't have to worry anymore." Lucy didn't sound so sure of herself, aside from trying to destroy it, everything just fell into place. It seemed too easy.

"But do we really know anything about the monster. I mean. Aside from suddenly ending up alone, I didn't find anything strange. So does it even exist?" Everyone turned to Natsu in surprise. "What?"

"You didn't see anything?" Lucy questioned.

"No. Why? Should have I?"

"Well, I mean- Happy didn't see anything either. We just assumed that the monster wasn't interested in animals. Are you sure you didn't see anything? I mean I could have sworn I heard you scream." Erza contemplated the thought. _Somethings not right here._

"I told you that wasn't me. And is it really that odd that I found nothing?" He was beginning to sound defensive, setting Gray's suspicion's higher.

Gray laughed, "Yeah you're right that wasn't you."

"Eh?" Natsu's eyes grew wide as Gray approached him.

"Because I heard Natsu."

"The hell are you talking about? Did you hit your head or something?" Natsu tried to back away, only to back into the rotting black wall.

Gray pinned him into the wall, "Where the hell is Natsu?" He was surprised that they didn't fall through it.

"Gray stop!" Lucy tried to get in-between them, only for Erza to stop her.

She remained calm, "You're not Natsu. Where is he?"

"What the hell you guys! I don't know what you're talking about. I am Natsu!" He tried to break free of Gray's grip.

Gray smirked, "If you were Natsu you would have gotten out of this by now. Besides you're acting weird." His grip on Natsu's arm tightened. "Where is Natsu?!"

"I'm acting weird? You're the ones being weird!" He managed to shove Gray.

"You started acting weird when we mentioned destroying that chalice. The Natsu I know wouldn't even question destroying stuff, he'd just do it." This time it was Lucy who went against him.

He laughed, "Awww. I was doing so well."

"N-natsu?" Happy backed away from him and stood close to Lucy. It wasn't Natsu

"You think that'll kill me?" He spoke in a mocking tone. "Man you guys are naïve.

"Where the fuck is Natsu?!" Gray grew impatient.

"Ha. Like I know. I'm all around this place. But I don't know where 'all' is." It paused, "Hm. Well. I do know one thing."

Gray shoved the fake Natsu into the wall again, "Quit fucking around! Where is Natsu?!"

"I know that Natsu is quivering in a small, dark corner right now." It received a punch to the face from Gray, causing its nose to bleed for a few seconds. It merely laughed as a response, "And there's nothing you can do."

"Quit saying stuff like that in his voice." Lucy shivered. Natsu was still out there. Alone. She needed to find him.

Swiftly after, the chalice was gone. And so was the fake Natsu. The group had no idea how to react, before realizing they had been there for a while. The sun had begun to rise. Natsu's scream that broke their silence.

"Natsu!" Lucy ran out of the house, but couldn't figure out where the source was.

Erza ran after her, "Wait! We should be careful!"

"We need to find him though!" Lucy protested.

Erza placed her hand on Lucy's shoulder to calm her, "I know, since there's nothing left here, we should keep together and look for him. I don't want to risk us getting split up again."

"Erza's right. Natsu needs us, but we can't panic. We won't find him otherwise. We need to hurry though. I think it came from that direction." Gray began walking, the rest followed without question.

Happy flew next to the ice mage. "He'll be okay right, Gray?"

He wasn't confident Natsu would be okay, but they could always help him. He's pulled through worse, "Hey, this is Natsu we're talking about. He always pulls through." He smiled.

"Aye."

"Hey that's-" Lucy ran ahead of the group. She picked up what was unmistakingly Natsu's scarf. It appeared to have some blood on it.

After walking around for what was defiantly a couple of hours, Erza noticed small drops of blood on the floor. She wondered if it was Natsu's or if there was actually an animal around here after all. _No it must be Natsu's._

The others turned to her and looked to the ground. Lucy instantly began to follow its trail. It led into some bushes. There was no way around them as they were surrounded by thorned tree branches. Lucy stumbled upon a hole big enough for her to fit through.

"Will you be okay?" Erza asked.

"Should really only one of us go?" Gray asked.

"Yeah it's fine. I'll give a shout if there's anything wrong." She began scrambling through the hole. "Ow." She cut her leg on one of the bush twigs.

At the other side of the bushes was a dark clearing, surrounded by dead looking trees propped up like walls. It was so dark she could barely see her own feet.

Lucy screamed in horror as she saw Natsu sat up against a tree. He was bleeding heavily from his left side.

"Natsu!" His eyes were wide open and yet she was getting no response. "Natsu can you hear me." She waved her hand in front of him. But still nothing, he was barley breathing.

Within moments the bushes were vaporised by the wrath of Erza's sword, Gray was swiftly behind her.

"He isn't responding." Lucy tried to shake him, "Natsu this isn't funny!"

Gray knelt next to him and placed a hand on his forehead. "He's freezing." Taking a closer look, he noticed Natsu's lips were blue and he was shaking. "Natsu? Hey!" Still no response.

Suddenly there was an echo of laugher. Erza turned around, "You bastard! What have you done to him?!"

There stood the fake Natsu, with the chalice still in its pale claw-like hand.

"Aw. Don't be so rash Erza. I was only honest with him." It chuckled, "That's he's, just. Like. Me."

Gray knocked Natsu out and eased him to the floor, he was still shaking. "Stay with him." Lucy and Happy nodded, instantly placing the scarf back where it should be. Hopefully it would warm him up a little.

"Okay I'm done with your crap!" Gray began casting Ice demon magic.

Erza followed with the swing of her sword, "When Natsu wakes up he's going to feel himself again. He's nothing like you!" The monster appeared to have Natsu's unhuman agility and dodged both of the mages attacks.

"If you're a demon slayer, then shouldn't you be slaying demons? So why is that still alive?" It pointed to the unconscious Natsu, aggravating the two.

Erza took another swing, "He's not a demon! He's a member of Fairy Tail and our family. He's human!"

"It's that Naivety that'll get you killed you know." It laughed again. However that was its last laugh, as Erza managed to get close enough to stab the creature. "Heh. I guess I played for too long." It's smiling face ceased, as it dropped the chalice and fell to the ground. "You won't win. Not with Ragnarok at his side." It whispered.

Its last words were disturbing. The chalice turned to dust as it hit the ground. As did the creature. Like it was nothing to begin with.

"Please tell me that it's over." Gray sighed with a sense of tiredness.

"I think so. Look, the trees seem a little healthier." Erza glanced around. They could actually see a full blue sky looming above them, with the sun beaming on the horizon.

"What was that anyway? We didn't get very far in actually finding out." Happy looked up at the blue sky.

"Well our job was to get rid of the monster, not do research. So I'd rather not know. But I think it may have been some sort of spirit. Of course what did it mean by _Ragnarok_? And who's side?" Lucy checked Natsu's temperature again. He was still shaking from the cold.

Gray lifted Natsu onto his back, "We can figure that out later. He really needs to get warmed up." Natsu began coughing. It sounded like he was getting a cold. Which, despite his magic, didn't seem surprising anymore.

It seemed that the monster had covered the path like it had the sky, upon its death the overgrown grass shrank and a path appeared not far from where they were. The group managed to make their way back to the village. It surprisingly easy for the group to retrace their original steps. They received much welcome and celebration from the townspeople.

"You can stay as long as you must." The hotel owner smiled. "We are truly in debt to you all. It's been too long since I've seen life in the people's hearts."

"We don't want to be too much trouble." Erza remained modest.

"Oh don't worry. Ever since the monster showed up in the woods, we haven't had many outsiders to stay. Just travellers passing through. Most of the townsfolk left too when things went dull." The man frowned, yet he tried to remain optimistic. "Hopefully word will get out and business will start up again."

"Well thank you. We appreciated it." Lucy smiled.

The hotel owner's daughter placed cups of tea onto the table, "Magnolia is quite a journey to make, especially for your sick friend. He needs to rest for now, don't worry my father won't charge you. You saved us and sadly this will be your payment. We apologise we don't have much to give you. As my father mentioned, this place has become barren."

"We understand. And we're are grateful for what you have already done. As soon as Natsu is well enough we will leave." Erza sipped her tea.

Natsu began to have a coughing fit in his sleep. His throat had become swollen and in the brief moments he had been awake, he was heavily dazed and he could barely let out a whisper.

Gray walked over to his bed with a glass of water. He gently shook him awake.

Natsu sheepishly opened his eyes, "Huh?"

"Just sit up and drink this." Gray helped him up. He was covered in sweat from his fever.

"T-thanks." He whispered, following with a weak cough, "W-what actually hap-pend?" Much to Gray's surprise this was probably the most awake Natsu had been all week.

"You don't remember? Because to be honest we don't know what happened to you exactly. We all got split up. And after much commotion with that monster, we found you." Gray didn't want to go into much detail, there was no need. Not to mention that Natsu probably wouldn't be able to process much in his current state.

"I remember being with you guys in the village." He talked slowly, trying not to cough too much.

Gray could see that Natsu was in a lot of pain, "Don't worry about it now. It's done. You looked wrecked so just try to get some more sleep. I only woke you so you could have some water."

"Thanks."

Within seconds Natsu lay back down and was asleep. Gray placed a cold cloth onto Natsu's head to cool him down. He's gotten rather used to looking after Natsu like this. But he wished he hadn't and he hoped this was the last time. Natsu couldn't take another hit like this.

A few days passed and Natsu eventually started to settle down and the group returned home. The guild had resumed to its alcoholic induced self with chatter and laughing just like old times. Rather than a guild on edge facing a war.

"Lu-lu you're back!" Levy attacked the blonde with a hug. "How was the job?"

"Well. We got it done." She sighed wanting to forget about that monster imitating her mother, "We just got some help from the people as payment. Which I'm okay with. But I really do need to pay my rent soon." She tried not to think too much about what the old hag would do to her.

Levy looked at her, "That doesn't sound convincing." Natsu sneezing convinced her even less, "and that isn't normal." She looked over to the pink haired, pale boy, stood behind Lucy. Although walking and having his usual voice back, it was clear Natsu had been ill on the job and looked like he was ready for bed.

"Oi Salamander, since when the hell did you get a cold?" Gajeel growled with some iron in his hand.

"Sh-Shut up" He whimpered as a response. "Is Wendy around?" He was too tired and felt like Gajeel was ready for a fight.

The iron dragon was taken back by his indifferent response. "Y-yeah she's upstairs." Before Gajeel could say anymore, Natsu left with a blue cat trailing behind him.

"Levy is the master around?" Erza asked.

Levy turned to her, "No. He's at a council meeting. He wasn't too thrilled about it. But, they have made the wizard saints the new members. So they insisted that he should be there."

"Well I guess I could ask you for now." She lowered her voice not wanting the whole guild to hear, she felt it was something dangerous, "You wouldn't have heard of Ragnarok?" She enquired.

Levy looked at her in confusion, "Ragnarok? Um. I think I've read about it somewhere. What's that got to do with anything?"

"On our last job we fought a monster that mentioned it. With everything that has gone on. I'm beginning to wonder if it was connected to Zeref." The rest of the group glanced at her, wondering why she's only now mentioning this thought.

Gray eventually spoke, "Why would you think that?"

"It seemed to have an interest in Natsu and I'm still bothered by its last words." _You won't win. Not with Ragnarok at his side_. "Honestly the way it acted reminded me of the Tartaros demons."

Levy tried to think, "Hmm? Well from the top of my head, there are many versions of such a thing. I think in one belief, Ragnarok was a battle that marked the end of God's on earth. There are many other interpretations, such as the earth being induced in flames ending all life. But all conclude the same thing, which would be the end of an era." She pondered.

 _Flames?_ Lucy shivered at the thought. "This might be a stretch, but- Well. No." She stopped.

"What is it Lu?" Levy looked up.

"I know what E.N.D stands for. But it seems coincidental that it ultimately spells out End. I don't know. With everything. With Zeref. Could that thing have meant Zeref?" She felt like she had a point to make, but couldn't find the right words. She didn't even want to think that Zeref had made his little brother. Natsu. Something to simply destroy the world. Kill everyone and everything.

"Well even if that was the case, Natsu isn't going anywhere." Erza interrupted.

"Even still. It's still worrying. I mean for Ragnarok to even have been mentioned." Levy shuddered at the thought.

Makarov appeared behind them. "Especially with this timing."

"Gramps?" Gray looked at him.

"We discussed the current situation. As we expected the dark guilds sudden silence has in fact meant they've gone to aid Zeref in war. Most likely with us. I haven't mentioned anything about our guild, aside from Warrod who was already aware of such matters. But he will likely come for Fairy Heart. All we can do now is prepare." He replied solemnly.

"W-war?" Lucy quivered.

"Do not worry. I will aid you all." Mavis appeared, "Although I am not proud of its existence. We must do what we can to protect it." She sighed in disbelief. Once again Fairy Tail was at the centre of everything.

"Hey Wendy do you think you could cast some spell on me?" Natsu asked sheepishly.

She tilted her head to figure out what was wrong. He was tired there was no denying that, "Natsu-san what happened?!" She panicked, he was only just himself again.

"Don't worry." He smiled. "It's just a cold." He didn't really want to explain what had actually happened. He didn't even remember what happened. But from what the others told him, he preferred not to remember.

She knew it wasn't normal for Natsu to get sick in this way. But what was deemed normal was changing. Therules had changes.

"Oh?" She walked up to him and held up her hands to him and with a glimmer of blue light she was done. "It might take at least a day for it to work. So it the meantime you should probably get some rest. Natsu-san you should listen to Porlyusica, you shouldn't push yourself."

"Sorry for bothering you Wendy. Thanks." He gave her a grin and headed home without interacting with any more people. He felt like if he didn't go to bed now, he would surely pass out.

"Happy what happened to him?" Carla looked at the blue cat.

"It's a long story, but the monster we fought messed him up a bit. But he'll sleep it off." He remained positive.

The white cat frowned, "A 'bit' sounds like an understatement. But if you say so."

Wendy frowned, "I'm sorry we couldn't be there to help out."

"Don't worry we got it sorted pretty quickly."

"Wendy don't get disheartened about it, we were on another job. What's done is done." Carla protested.

"I should probably go after him. I'll see you tomorrow." He grinned, as he swiftly went after his best friend.

Carla's eyes widened.

"Hmm? What's wrong Carla?" Wendy glanced at her.

She readjusted herself promptly, "N-nothing." _Who was that man? What were those blue markings? Was that Laxus- dead? Gajeel? And. And-_

"Carla you should really-"

"Hey Wendy, Carla!" Lucy barged in the infirmary with Erza and Levy. "Have Natsu and Happy seen you yet?"

"Yeah, they just went home." Wendy smiled, "Is Natsu-san going to be okay?"

"Left? I hope by homehe means HIS home." Lucy grumbled.

Erza chuckled, "Don't worry, we're keeping an eye on him. He'll be okay."

"What happened to him? Happy was rather vague in his description." Carla asked.

Erza explained what happened on the job. Lucy eventually interrupted her, "It's not important right now. Just as long as we keep an eye on him. He'll pull through. As we expected from the moment we read the Masters letter. He needs our help with this fight, even if he won't admit it."

"We should probably go check in on him. I know Happy's with him. But he knows how to lie to him and try and handle this on his own." Erza pressed.

"I'll come with you. If it's as bad as you're saying, then maybe I should stay near Natsu-san in case his condition worsens."

Wendy was determined, she wanted to be of more use to the group, especially if they were going to war with Zeref. She'd trained for a year alone. For the past few weeks, she had tried not to fall back to where she was a year ago. Where she'd watch her friends fight the harder battles while she just helped from behind. She wanted to stand with her friends this time. Not behind them.

"Natsu? Happy? You guys here?" Lucy whispered with hesitation. She grew tense at the lack of response and began to wonder if they had in fact gone to her apartment, rather than their own home. However it wasn't long before she received her answer.

Erza traipsed into the house behind her and looked over to the sofa, "It seems they're both asleep." She smiled at the sight of the pink haired boy sound asleep, with a small blue cat snuggled into his neck.

"I guess he really was tired." Lucy was slightly disheartened at the sight having been used to Natsu always being so full of energy.  
Even in his sleep, as obnoxious as his snoring could be when he did snore, the silent breathing was leaving her with an unsettling thought. "His temperature is still quite high though. It doesn't seem to be as bad as it was. I guess you magic really helped him out. Thankyou Wendy."

Wendy smiled, "He looks less pale than when I first saw him. I suppose he just needs some sleep for now." Her worries from earlier quickly ceased.

Before long there was some clutter from in the kitchen. Erza had decided upon herself to make the girls some tea.

"Well it seems it isn't just Lucy's apartment that she makes her own home then." Carla chuckled, as Lucy sighed in the background.

 _Natsu?_

 _Natsuuuu?_

 _Come play with meeeeee._

"Ah!" Natsu jumped up almost giving Wendy a heart attack as she jolted up her head from the sofa arm.

"Are you okay?" Lucy wandered in from the kitchen.

"Er. Y-yeah. Um?" He eventually took in his surroundings, realizing he was in his house. He also noted a startled Wendy, "Ah. Sorry I didn't mean to make you jump." He looked at the small girl and smiled. She smiled in response. He saw Lucy and Happy looking disheartened. "Heh, I guess this is becoming a common thing. I'm sorry." He frowned. _They're giving me that look again._

"You better be. You've had us worried nonstop." Carla scowled. Despite her phrasing, she knew it wasn't his fault and was hoping this was the last time it happened. But her vision made her worry that it was far from over.

"Here." Erza handed him a glass of water. "How are you feeling?"

Natsu took a small sip, "I guess I could be better. But I'm okay. How long have I been asleep?"

"3 days." Gray answered walking in with a cup of tea in his hand. "Which wouldn't be the first time. I wouldn't really say that wasn't normal either."

"3- 3 days?" He was thrown off by Gray's words, but only because he still felt exhausted despite having slept for so long. _Stop looking at me like that._

"Well I don't plan on worrying you. We've done enough of that." Gray muttered. "Considering the situation you're the last person I want to worry about."

Erza smiled.

Gray blushed when he noticed the look on her face, "I mean Zeref."

Natsu cringed just hearing the name, he remembered everything. The only thing he really didn't remember until recently, was dying. But he wasn't going to tell them that. They said they would find a way. But he was prepared. He didn't like it, but he didn't want his friends. His family. To suffer any more than they already have. He was ready to pay to ultimate price for that.

Night emerged and the gang resided at Natsu's. Mainly because they couldn't be bothered walking anywhere at that point and had already gathered quilts and pillows in various places of Natsu's house, which came to much relief for Lucy.

The tension of the war drawing closer and sleeping was becoming difficult for many mages.  
This wasn't just a war with Zeref. Not for Natsu. This was a death match with his brother. He went outside and to get some air and try and cool down. The summer nights were hot and with Natsu's mind elsewhere, the heat was affecting him.

"You should really get some sleep." Gray joined him and sat on the grass.

"I'm fine." He sighed.

Gray knew something was wrong. Not that he was surprised by that. "So are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to beat it out of you."

"It's nothing. Well-" He paused. "I need you to promise me something-"

"Natsu we're not doing this now. We're not having this conversation. Nothing is going to happ-"

"Gray! Just listen." He looked at Gray, "I'm not giving up. I've never given up and I've made you guys come this far with me. I'll keep going until the end. You should know that. But I don't know when the end is and I need to draw the line somewhere. So please Gray just this once." He took a deep breath, "Promise me that if you have the chance to kill Zeref. Kill him."

"Natsu I'm not gonna ki-"

"Dammit Gray you promise me right now!" He stood up. "You promise me that if you have the chance to kill him you do it. You don't hesitate. If I get the opportunity you don't stop me. You let it happen. Because I don't want anyone to suffer any more than they already have. My life isn't worth that much." He begun to shake and tried to hold back the tears.

"Natsu I'm not letting you-"

"Idiot. I don't want to die! Don't think that I want to die! I want to go back to the guild with you guys. But I don't want to go back knowing Zeref is still alive. Or knowing that too many suffered at the cost of me staying alive." The tears began to heavily fall down his face.

"Don't make me go through that Gray."

"Natsu. I-" He stood up and hugged him, he didn't know what to say. He could see how terrified he was.

"Gray promise me that if we don't find a way in time." He couldn't say it, but he had to, "You let me die." He sobbed uncontrollably, "Promise me."

He didn't want to accept such a fate. But it was unfair on Natsu if they miss a chance to kill Zeref and more people end up dead as a result. He was right, he hated it. But Natsu wasn't being selfish. They were.

"I promise." Gray has said those words many times before. But this time those words felt heavy on him.

Days passed and everyone was ready. The war was immanent now. The dark guilds were well and truly silent. Even the bird's migrated west months earlier than they should, they knew. The animals sensed the pressure of war too.

"This is how it will go. Of course this is a war and the reality is that anything could happen. So if my predictions do falter adapt quickly and keep moving forward." Mavis shouted eagerly. "Zeref's ships have been detected and they should arrive tomorrow. Fairy Tail will not fall!" She shouted and the guild cheered in response.

Zeref sat on his rustic throne. Next to him was a small, wooden table, placed on it was a book labelled E.N.D.

"I have waited so long for this." He smiled. "I'm sorry Natsu, but I have no use for you anymore." He looked at the book.

"I think it's time I let you out, Etherious Natsu Dragneel."


	16. Broken 1

**Book 4: Broken**

The colours of setting sun poured into the oceanic skies that loomed above the town. It should have been a beautiful sight and it was, for someone with a demonic mind.

"See? I can do it! Look at what I did! Isn't it beautiful? Look at it big brother!"

The young boy praised his own work, having redecorated the remote town now ruined, bloodied and silent.  
The older brother looked around, so much destruction and it happened so quickly. It's what he hoped for and yet the boy is only 7 years old. Well, in some sense, he is only 7. That's what the older brother has to tell himself to keep his sanity. To not remind himself the reality of the situation. The coldness of his actions. The actions that have led him here. Fearing this small child. This demon. This Etherious being. Yet, the child did all this on his brother's orders. To win his love and appreciation. So who was really the demonic one?

"You've gone a little overboard. But you've still impressed me." Despite his fear, the older boy reminds himself constantly why he made this child to no longer be innocent or naïve like other children. Like normal, human children. This was all for him to finally meet death. A selfish choice really, but also a burden this child does not yet know.

"But everybody is gone now. Isn't that what you wanted me to do?" The boy looked up at his big brother with his wide green eyes.

"You've still got a way to go."

The child frowned at his brothers hollow words. Was it not enough? _What can I do to have you appreciate me? What did I do wrong?_

"Now let's head home. I think someone is coming for us." Just as he'd finished speaking, the army of men began to appear over the hill. The first thing they saw were the two boys, but before they could react, they'd vanished.

* * *

The war with Alvarez and Ishgal had begun. It'd barley started and already it made the fight with Tartaros look like a petty spat. By the end of the first day many had been critically injured, some even dead.

The worst however, was Natsu. He went off with Happy on his own accord to face Zeref, in the hope that he could finish everything quickly. But, Happy brought him back. His heart had stopped and he wasn't breathing for a couple of minutes. Porlyusica stated he had developed a tumour in his brain due to overusing his magic, fortunately Brandish on a whim shrank it, yet he was left in a comatose state.

He could have had him, but he hesitated at the last second. Despite his words, Natsu didn't want to die, he was terrified, not of death, but of not getting to see what happens when this is all over.  
Additionally, when Natsu got closer he could already see that even if Zeref died, someone will likely take his place in the leadership. The war wouldn't end just like that. This was something he realized mid battle and wondered if maybe Mavis had realized the same. This was like fighting a hydra.  
Cut of one head and another will grow.  
The real question was, who was the next head? The soldiers were clearly following Zeref blindly or at least off lies. But the Spriggan's. They had their own minds. Some just wanted war. But there were a few whose motives have yet to be found out. Regardless, they were all lethal in their own right. What was more disturbing is that they knew they were replaceable to Zeref.

* * *

The two appeared inside an old ruined house, cluttered with papers, books and an array of objects. "Zeref" the child mumbled.

Zeref didn't bear a glance towards the boy and only responded in an aggravated tone, "What is it Natsu?"

He didn't often pay Natsu much attention, only because he didn't want to view him as his brother. He wanted to break away from the complications of attachment and emotion. This child was a demon not family. A chess piece for Zeref's new game. An important one at that.

"I don't feel well." the black wizard's expression changed as he turned to the boy. Natsu had gone completely white.  
"My head hurts." he spoke out of confusion, "and I can't see." He started shaking before suddenly collapsing to the floor.

"N-Natsu!" In that moment Zeref forgot everything that had happened. On instinct, Zeref was his big brother again and took him into the house.

"Big brother?" He mumbled in his sleep. "It hurts." The child started to become agitated in his sleep. Speaking frantically in an endless, inaudible cycle of words.

He sat beside him, forgetting who he was in this current age, he stroked Natsu's pink hair. Deep down he wanted to care, but seeing the scar on his neck kept reminding him of the etherious being he now is. That his little brother died and he did something unnatural and selfish to bring him back.

"Make it stop." His voice was barely a whisper. Zeref wasn't entirely sure of what to do. But he knew what this was. He knew that Natsu remembers dying.

The black mage began to return to his senses and remember the situation.

"Natsu." Zeref looked at the small child in sorrow. "I'm so sorry."

He thought about ending his brother's pain and return him back to the dead as it should be. But the contradictory curse is a complicated and painful existence. Instead Zeref found himself putting the boy into a comatose state. To avoid further complications in his mind, he decided to switch of his humanity and leave Natsu passed out in his bed. The child didn't even make a sound, but Zeref saw him draw breath. That was the only indication the he was still alive.

Regardless of what the future brought. This child would adapt to whatever life Zeref intended to throw at him. Zeref knew that he had to play it right with Natsu. Even if it meant placing him on the wrong side of war. He was irreplaceable and his moves in Zeref's game would be perilous.

* * *

The dark skies loomed above the guild hall.  
Their time was up. War had finally fallen. It was sinking into their heads now.  
A few days in and already they were in a state of recuperation. Members having to return to the guild. Wendy had barely got away from Acnologia. A price was paid for that. A heavy price.  
Gray had to carry Wendy back. She was in a critical condition. As soon as he lay her down on the bed he went to find Lucy. He saw her on the way in and knew something wasn't right. The guild was quiet.  
People were dead.  
Suddenly the guilds eager ways and optimism had fallen. Brandish wasn't with them when they returned, she had no true interest in the war and while it seemed one of her comrades broke her out of her cell, she had made it clear she wasn't going to continue her part and left. But something had happened. Lucy was pale and quiet. Happy didn't say a word.

"What's going on? I mean I don't really know what I expected, but jeez." Gray looked at Lucy who remained to look at her feet and stayed quiet.

"It's Natsu." Porlyusica had tucked Wendy in, with the confidence that she just needed to sleep.

"What about him? What's that idiot done now? Where is he?" With each question Gray became more panicked as he realized he hadn't actually seen Natsu, he should have still been in the infirmary. _Don't tell me he ran off again to fight that fucker. Natsu what the hell are you doing?_

"He's gone." Lucy began to cry, "Gray he's gone to Zeref!"

"That idiot. He shouldn't fight-"

"He's not fighting him."

"Huh?"

"He's not Natsu anymore." She sobbed not knowing what to do. It all happened so quickly. "I don't think he's been Natsu for a while. Gray I don't know what to do. He had his voice. He- He-" Her voice broke as the tears fell harder down her face.

"I'll drag him back if I have to. Don't worry. We're not going to lose him." He didn't really know what to think. _That conversation, was that an act? Was that really you?_

"I can't lose him Gray. Bring him back. Please. Bring Natsu back."

Zeref walked into his throne room only to be met with a sound of crazed laughter and the sight of Natsu Dragneel, who had made himself comfortable on the throne, with his legs hanging over the arm of the chair.

"Zeeeeeref!" He laughed, "You're a real piece of work you know!"

"You honestly think I'd kill my family. Oh and don't hear me wrong, you're not family. I'd gladly kill you." He grinned as he hopped off of the chair coming face to face with his older brother.  
"The thing is however, I would like to live my life after that. But I guess that's not going to happen, is it?" His mocking laughter had died, merely to be replaced with anger and frustration.

All Zeref did was glance over to him and smile. He didn't need to speak. His body language spoke for him, as though he was saying, _I have plans for you. You're in debt to me. I gave your life. I'm the reason for Fairy Tail and no matter how you look at it. You are mine. Little Brother._

"Heh. Don't patronise me. Big brother." He teased. "Don't think for a second that because it will result in my death I won't hesitate to kill you."

"You hesitated earlier."

"I did and I won't lie, I was scared." Natsu gave him a serious look, "But I'm not scared anymore." He began laughing again.

The room was vast and open causing his laugh to mix with the noise of the clashing of the fairies outside. Zeref stopped smiling, he's actually become scared, like he was all those years ago.

Natsu's attitude had completely changed. This wasn't Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail anymore. This was Natsu Dragneel, King of the underworld.

Zeref's eyes grew wide with fear of what stood in front of him.  
His little brother had outplayed him. That's what terrified him so much. Natsu didn't come here to discuss the war and how it should end. He'd already decided that the war wasn't going to last long. In fact, it hadn't really started. It was an empty threat. Something both of the brothers knew. But Natsu getting into Zeref's head wasn't the only thing that scared him.

 _How? I never_ _opened the book. "_ When di-"

"Aren't you supposed to be clever or something?" Natsu smirked, with the E.N.D book in his hand, before vanishing and reappearing directly behind Zeref and whispering in his ear. The words actually made the black mage shiver.  
"I think I won this time. Big brother."

When Zeref turned around Natsu was gone.

* * *

"Natsu! Listen and learn" It's not that hard!"

Despite his words Zeref wasn't really angry with his little brother and his over active imagination. Natsu's mind always wandered off to somewhere, which sometimes made it hard to value him as nothing more than a tool. Because it was something Natsu had always done, even before death.

"But it's boring."

Zeref sighed. Deep down the dark mage had wondered what went through his mind. The boy was always smiling these days. Those dark thoughts that once flooded Natsu's mind had gone, without realizing it he had started to treat him as human rather than a demon.

Natsu was now a teenager, he had matured quite a lot and yet, he still at the best off times kept his childish mind. Zeref envied that, at least until Natsu would fall asleep. Then the envy would go away, because reality would take over his mind and the nightmares would start.  
He could fight it all he wanted. But Natsu could never have an innocent mind ever again. He'd seen too much. Done too much.

There was no demon underworld yet, but whispers of the Black Mage Zeref and the ultimate demon END had surfaced. Despite their innocent looking appearances, they were forces to be reckoned with. Many who faced them didn't realize who they really were until it was too late.


	17. Broken 2

A lot changed as the years went on. Zeref watched Natsu fluctuate back and forth between human and demon, as though the contradictory curse had seeped into his mind as well. He was never sure which Natsu he would get, but honestly these days it was more of a human mind he would see. But that was not what he wanted.

"Natsu." He sighed, "Listen to me for once. You need to learn these spells." Despite how feared the demon was, it was the human that gave Zeref the most trouble.

He wanted the demon.

Natsu began to walk off into the house, "Why? I know what I know. Fire burns stuff. What will learning more fire spells do?" His one track mind always frustrated his older brother, yet Zeref also envied his brothers carefree mind too.

Natsu never understood what went through Zeref's mind, other than he wanted to die. He had no interest in power. Neither of them did really.

"How many times to I need to tell you-"

"Kill you." He stopped and turned to his brother, "Yeah I got that. But why do you make me kill them." He flung his arm out pointing into the distance.

"Not just me Natsu. You're a fire demon for a reason."

"No. I'm a fire demon when it's convenient for you. Every other time I'm nothing." He laughed ironically. "I'm not even your brother anymore."

He sighed again, "We're not having this argument again. You are my brother."

Sometimes Natsu's two minds overlapped.

"Don't patronize me. No I'm not. I've never been valued as your little brother." He grew frustrated. "I am though. I am Natsu. Natsu Dragneel, and your Zeref Dragneel, my older brother who thinks he's a smartass."

"Natsu-"

"No. Stop it. Stop trying to dismiss everything I say. I'm your brother Zeref, quit denying that."

"Stop-"

That was when Natsu what the hardest to handle. When both demon and human minds came together. This was the real Natsu.

"You're trying to run away. Run away from everything. Somewhere in trying to run you fucked up and you decided to drag me down into hell with you! Now you're here, trying to fix it. Undo your fuck up. Yours! Not mine!"

Zeref grew angry, but not at Natsu. He was angry with himself. Natsu was right as always, he was running, he'd always been running. Alone. The truth was, he just didn't want to run alone anymore.

"What's wrong big brother? Am I right?" He gave a small smile knowing full well he was right, he didn't need Zeref to tell him that, but it was fun to have him admit it.

Natsu acted stupid most of the time. But he always understood. He was always right.

"Shut up." Zeref wanted to punch him, but managed to control himself.

Or so he thought. When he looked up at Natsu again, the pink haired mage looked afraid. Afraid of him. He turned around and everything had been painted black. Dead.  
Zeref was tired, tired of playing this cruel game, but maybe the trick to winning this game was to accept it and play cruel.

"Heh." Zeref began laughing as Natsu stood looking at him confused. "Maybe you're right Natsu. No. You are right. You're just so clever aren't you?" He spoke in a mocking tone as he continued to laugh.

"Z-Zeref?" He'd never seen his brother like this before, he was afraid. Had he finally snapped?

"You're right. I'm a horrible, selfish person. I couldn't accept what happened. I couldn't be alone. I didn't want to be alone anymore! I wanted to fix something that was beyond repair." He glanced directly at Natsu, "I'm not sorry though. You're not my little brother." His laugh turned manic, showing the true face of insanity. "My little brother is dead. Mother too." He looked at Natsu.

"Shut up." He knew it was the curse. He knew and yet hearing it still made him angry. "You brought me back. I'm right here!" He tightened his fist. "Screw you Zeref! I'm here! So stop ignoring what you did by telling yourself I'm dead! I was. But you changed that because you so pathetically couldn't accept it! My fucking name isn't E.N.D its Natsu Dragneel and I'm gonna keep reminding you, until it gets through to you that you're not alone!" as expected he ended up punching him, knocking Zeref to the ground.

He rubbed his face, it was numb but there was no mark, which only reminded him of his curse. He knew he was pathetic, he knew full well that the person in front of him was his little brother. He was just too scared to accept the reality of what he'd done, just as Natsu stated.

"So stop being stupid." Natsu held out his hand and helped his brother up. "You're an idiot for doing what you did and you really fucked up." He grinned, "But since I'm here, the least I can do is help you. I don't want to kill you, you're my brother. But if I know that it'll save you, get rid of the pain. Then that's what I'll do. We're the only family we've got and we've both got second chances to make it count."

* * *

"What the hell is that idiot thinking?! Why didn't he tell us?! I'm not buying that he switched off just like that!" Gray kicked the leg of the table in frustration.

"Gray-sama I understand you're frustrated but-"

"And how the fuck did he just waltz out of the guild. He was in the infirmary. Why didn't anyone stop him?!" He completely ignored Juvia.

"He didn't just 'waltz out' Gray. He was up and talking. He seemed normal. But then suddenly started saying he needed to talk to Zeref. Then he just-" Lucy's eyes began tearing up again.

Gray frowned, "That's not what I'm getting at. I mean he's clearly not been himself for a while."

He wasn't actually angry that Natsu left the guild without anyone able to stop him. Gray had already figured out the possibility that a demon Natsu probably knows more that dragon slaying magic. He knew if Natsu had literally walked out the guild, Lucy and Happy probably would have talked him out of it, or even Erza or Laxus would have forcibly stopped him.  
No, Gray was angry with himself for not taking his change in personality a little more seriously. They had all assumed it was normal, due to everything he'd been through in such a short amount of time. They hoped that maybe within a few weeks he'd been Natsu again.

But he wasn't.

"Where did you go Natsu?" Happy mumbled. He felt a hand on his head.

"Don't worry we're gonna get that idiot back." Gray tried to comfort him.

Everyone was at a loss, but Natsu was practically a parent to Happy. Due to Natsu's irrational personality people tend to forget that he raised Happy on his own for the most part. He wasn't just the exceed's best friend, he was a brother and parent to him. Having lost his own parents Gray wanted to defiantly make sure he got Natsu back and he knew the others we're thinking the same. This wasn't just for their own personal reasons, this was for each other too. They were all in this long dangerous road together.

"Master you're back!" The dark figure approached Natsu.

"Well I would have been back a lot sooner if Mard Geer didn't let Zeref have this." He gestured the book in this air.

"We should have known. We're sorry we attacked you Master." The demon bowed her head in sorrow. "Well Jackal isn't so much." She muttered under her breath.

Natsu laughed, "Don't apologise, you look pathetic Kyoka."

"We appreciate you fixing the secondary Hell's core." She lowered her head again, "If only Seilah was here."

"There's nothing much I can do about her, Mira has her and Plutogrim's soul. Even if she died I don't think they could be revived." Despite being demons, he generally did feel sorry for her having remember how much she cared for Seilah.  
"Have you managed to organize yourselves?" Natsu walked over to a cracked throne and looked down on it.

"Yes Master."

"Good. Acnologia will be arriving soon."

"What about Zeref?"

"Don't worry about him. If he dies so will you, so we can leave him to his game."

"Wont you die too?"

"I would have. But Knowing Lucy Heartfillia has paid off." He laughed as he sat onto the throne.

Kyoka looked confused, "Eh? What do you mean?"

Natsu held up the book, "I had someone unknowingly rewrite it for me." The book slowly disintegrated away. "I don't need to worry about it anymore."

Her eyes widened, "Eh?" she wasn't sure what to think, but she was defiantly afraid of him and knew that he held the title for the Demon King for a reason.

"Go play Kyoka."

* * *

The world was set ablaze, people were running around scared, there was nothing but screaming and the smell of burning wood. In the mass of the chaos there stood Natsu slightly higher than the rest, he was on top of on a block of wood from a fallen house. There was a person wailing in agony underneath him.

"Natsu this isn't a game!" Zeref shouted, completely bypassing the slowly dying person, who was gradually getting quieter.

"Oh I'm sorry did you not want them to die?" Natsu laughed. "Ooh, you should leave before your little pets see you. They may follow me, but they admire you far too much."

"Natsu!"

Zeref was afraid of what Natsu had done. When it came to fighting Natsu was like cat, he'd play and play, play to the point where the 'mouse' would think it has a chance at getting away. Just as that hope shows, he bites. He bits hard into the neck, granting nothing but a slow, painful death. It was that logic that made people so afraid of him, it wasn't the fact that he kills, it's how.

"What's wrong big bro-ther. You're not scared are you?" He continued to laugh.

"This isn't what is supposed to happen." Zeref muttered.

A woman fleeing for her life tripped on a small rock in front of Natsu as she looked up and saw the dragon-like demon, she froze in fear.

"Then what was supposed to happen Zeref?" He jumped down and walked over to the woman on the ground.

"Natsu don't." He wanted to grab him, but he was afraid, which was an odd feeling since he couldn't die and even if he could he'd gladly welcome death like an old friend. But it wasn't the thought that Natsu could kill him that made him afraid.  
It's that he wouldn't.

Natsu picked her up by her hair, despite the pain she was too afraid to make a sound. "Don't what?" He grinned devilishly at the woman as he switched hands and now had her by the neck.

"Natsu!"

Natsu squeezed down on her neck slowly, the only sound she let out was a gurgling, as blood started to spurt out of her mouth. Her eyes widened as she realized her fate, but screaming would be pointless, no one else was around and even if there was, blood had filled her lungs. Before Zeref could react Natsu had squeezed so hard her neck had snapped and her head had rolled in front of him with her eyes still screaming.

"Why are you doing this?!" The sight of death didn't faze Zeref anymore, but even this was too much to stomach.

"I'm bored." He grinned again not really caring about the blood on his hand. "They're bored." He gestured to Ezel who was running rampant throughout the town.  
"You brought me back to life Zeref. What did you expect me to be like? Some slave to carry out your bidding? Or some normal innocent, pathetic human being? Enlighten me dear big brother?" His tone was sarcastic, aggravating Zeref.

 _Why did you turn out like this? What did I do wrong? You were good for so long. What happened? Should I rid the other demons? No, he might get worse, they need to buffer that. Or should I- No I can. No. No. Nononono no no no. Natsu why? Why? Why why why? What did I do wrong? You're not my little brother. You're a demon._

"I am a demon." Natsu glared at him with his snake-like eyes, "I can't actually hear what you're thinking, but I know. It's always the same." He walked up to Zeref and stared him down. "I died, I was dead for what- 18, 19 years? Don't get me wrong I am Natsu. But did you really think after all that time my soul would be okay?"

 _Soul?_ Zeref frowned, "I guess you're right. I'm sorry I did this to you." He felt ashamed, but once again his curse wouldn't let him do exactly what he wanted to.

"Eh?" Natsu looked down to see Zeref's hand on his chest, his eyes widened, but before he could do anything his body slumped to the ground.

"I need to start again. I'm sorry to do this to you, but I need you. I promise it'll be right next time." E.N.D's book appeared into Zeref's hand as he opened it, it sucked in the dead Natsu.

"Maybe Igneel will look after you next time."

* * *

"Master whats wrong?" Kyoka asked as she'd noticed Natsu go pale as he sat in the throne.

"Nothing now go." He felt like his head was spinning and he wanted to be sick.

"Master?"

Natsu was looking down at the floor to try and ignore the spinning room, but he'd noticed that something felt wrong.

"Maaassteer." That wasn't Kyoka. "Hehe, what's wrong Naaattsuuu?" That was him, the demon.

When Natsu looked up nothing was there, but it wasn't just a lack of a second presence, there was literally nothing. He wasn't even in Hell's core, there was no throne, just a rock in a cave. There was just Natsu.

As well as E.N.D's book.

"What the hell?" His eyes widened, "What the hell did you make me do?" He was confused as to where he was, the last thing Natsu remembered was waking up in the guild infirmary. "Where the hell am I? Why do I have this?!" He threw the book to the other end of the cave in a fit of panic.

"Oh I just played for a little bit." The voice laughed.

Natsu was too scared to think, let alone speak. _Did I hurt anyone? Where am I? What was that just now?_

"That? Oh that was just me showing you an endless possibility, you could bring them back you know. Kyoka and the others. You could show everyone what hell really is." It continued to laugh, "As for where you are, well go outside, you'll see its home."

"Home?" He slowly took a step towards the cave entrance.

"The 'home' that you fled from when you came out of the eclipse gate."

"Sin?" He froze up. Natsu wasn't there long before Makarov found him, but there was a reason for that.

"The war with Zeref is far from over, but I think Acno-fucker has showed up, or will show up and the only real method would be to retreat. Even brother isn't that stupid especially now you have the book."

Natsu eventually walked outside, the demon was right, the city of Sin was right there. The corrupted hell he ran so far away from before he ended up in Fairy Tail. He just hoped everyone else was okay.


	18. Broken 3

Natsu stumbled towards the city, he didn't want to go there, but if he remembered correctly the nearest village was a 3 day walk. With each step a flood of memories of this hell came hurtling into his head. He'd only mentioned to the others that this was where he came from, although he now knows it was the place he ended up after coming through the eclipse gate. He'd remembered her, Anna Heartfillia.  
But, he never mentioned that to the others, when Sin was first mentioned it was a blur to him, but he remembers it. Every last detail. He didn't want to explain it to them, he wanted to forget. He was broken, and he didn't want to show them how much he'd broken.

"Hey brat get back here!" An old man grabbed his broom and chased Natsu through the street.

Natsu ran as fast as he could with the apple he'd stolen. He felt a little guilty about it, but he woke up two days ago in the middle of nowhere, alone. After aimlessly searching for Igneel, this mess of a city was where he eventually ended up. He asked a few people if they'd seen a red dragon around. But they'd say he was crazy or just ignore him, as well as hearing a chorus of murmurs like 'poor kid, must be going delusional from starvation'.

He didn't really understand why people were acting this way. However he was starting to feel hungry, he hadn't really focused on eating, and he hadn't slept either. All that mattered was finding Igneel. There was much nicer food around, but the apple was the easiest thing he could grab. Unfortunately for Natsu, the man at the fruit stand was more agile that he looked.

Natsu looked behind him, which was a mistake as he ended up running into someone, allowing the old man to catch up to him.

"You give that back to me right now you little shit." He leaned down to pry the apple out of the boys hands, but as he did Natsu took a bite out of it.  
"Heh, cocky brat. Dem apples are expensive, you think doing that will stop me from punishing you."

"I was hungry." Natsu protested.

"I don't give two shits. If I gave food to one homeless brat, then they'd all swam to me. I can't afford to do that." He grabbed Natsu by his scarf, "Now you gonna pay."

"Hey let me down!" Despite Natsu's protest, no one stopped the old man, they just continued on with their day.

"Imma teach you some manners boy." He dragged Natsu back to his fruit stall.

After running around doing easy, yet tiresome chores for the old man, Natsu attempted to make a break for it when he wasn't looking. But he was always looking, even when it seemed like he wasn't.

"Oi brat you still owe me!" He waved his broom in the air, the same broom he'd wacked Natsu with a few times that day.

"It was one apple you senile idiot!"

"It wasn't just one apple. I lost sales because of you runnin' off like that!"

"Well then maybe you shouldn't have chased after me." He mumbled.

The old man sighed, "Take a look around ya kid."

Natsu looked around, it didn't take long for him to see what the old man was inferring to. The sight shocked him, he'd been here all day, how did he not see them? Tucked away down the alleys, as the side of the street, those solemn dead eyes that will never meet your gaze.

"Like I said earlier, these hopeless people well-"

"They're inconvenient." those words felt extremely familiar to him, they hurt him to say.

"No." That was a lie. "But if we'd try to help them, we'd either take their place or go down with them." If they made any attempt to help them, the military would imprison them, then they'd join them out on the streets when they were released. They only way they would be allowed to help, would be to hire them, but business wasn't big enough and there was no way in deciding which few to hire.

"They're inconvenient." Natsu repeated. He felt like he said those words before, but couldn't remember why or who he said them to.

He frowned, "Get inside kid, works done for the day." The boy, covered in dirt looked up at him confused before hesitantly following him into his house.

"Ah is that the boy you've had workin' for ya sweetie." A woman appeared in the front room, "Oh my, looks like my husband is really punishing you for that apple." She smiled.

Natsu didn't know how to respond so he just glanced at her with confused, tired eyes.

"I think you need a bath and a change of clothes. I still have my sons, I think they should fit you."

Her smile faded as she said 'son' giving Natsu the instant sign that this 'son' wasn't alive. He just nodded along and accepted her offer. He wasn't fond of baths, but he defiantly needed to change out of the rags he had on.

"I'll go run the bath for you. After that we can have some dinner, I'm sure that one bite from that apple wasn't enough." She chuckled to herself before going upstairs.

Natsu didn't know how to handle this situation. What they had wasn't much, but he'd be outside completely alone for the last few days, and now he was in someone else's home being offered a meal and a new set of clothes. It felt familiar which was odd as he'd never experienced this before. Or at least from what he remembered.

Natsu was the first child in a long time that had attempted to steal from him and it was obvious from his appearance the boy wasn't from around here. _Runaway maybe? No he seemed lost._

The old man had noticed Natsu's reaction, "How'd you end up here anyway kiddo?" He hesitated, but the curiosity was killing him.

Natsu wasn't sure what to say, earlier he couldn't understand the odd looks he got when he mentioned a dragon, but as the day went on he started to doubt himself. Had he gone mad? Was Igneel just a cover for something he didn't want to remember? Or was it that they were so secluded, that the outside world didn't know they existed.

Before Natsu answered the woman appeared again and led Natsu to the bathroom, "I have some clothes for you, how about I bin these?" She looked at his tattered rags, "I think they're beyond repairable. How about I wash your scarf."

He jolted at the indication he would be separated from it. It was dirty, but he didn't want to be parted from it. The woman could tell he didn't like the idea, so tried to convince him, which eventually worked despite his hesitation.  
When he removed the scarf she became disheartened by the scar on his neck. Despite his shyness, it was apparent from the bruises (that her husband didn't give him) and scuffed knuckles that he was prone to getting into fights. Yet, she could tell that the scar had a dark tale to it. Whatever the child had been through, being where he was now was probably for the best.

Just as she'd promised the scarf had been cleaned and was back around his neck by the time he'd washed and dressed. Natsu then followed her downstairs.

"Now let's eat!" She happily picked up her fork and began to eat her cottage pie, it seemed she was always proud of her home cooked food.

Natsu had no idea what it was, but he could smell the minced meet that was mixed with gravy and vegetables that were hidden underneath the mashed potato. He pushed some of the vegetables aside and hesitantly began to eat.

She smiled when he began eating as she was worried he wouldn't. He hadn't actually said anything since being here and although it was apparent he wasn't eating the carrots or peas, he was eating and that was enough for her.

"How was your day dear? Did you sell enough fruit?"

"Well I got the brat to make deliveries, so aside from him causing trouble in the first place, I got enough for the week."

"He's not a brat, he has a name." She looked at the boy who was just about finished eating, leaving all the vegetables on his plate. "Do you even know his name?"

The old man huffed, "I ain't gonna waste my time with that."

She sighed and looked to the boy, "What's your name dear?"

He looked down at his plate, "Natsu."

"Oh my, he speaks!" The man spoke sarcastically, at most he heard him mumble or argue with him, but since being in the house he hadn't heard a word from him.

"Oh hush dear the poor boy has been through hell no doubt." She stood up and began to clear away the table.

"Well Natsu why don't you stay the night?" Despite how her husband was it was clear from her judgement that she was the 'man' of the house.

He appreciated the offer, but he didn't want to stay, he wanted to find Igneel. He wanted to go home. He shook his head.

"Don't be stupid boy, you can't go out there. They military will lock you up." The old man protested. "You wouldn't last a day."

"I need to-" He wanted to say why, but he felt stupid. Honestly, he didn't even know where to look for the dragon and the old man was right, he wouldn't last very long, he got lucky today.

"Whatever it is, you should at least stay the night."

"But I need to- um." He didn't know what to say, "I need to find-" Natsu actually felt overwhelmed with how this couple had welcomed him, he didn't know what to do. Before he could do anything he felt tears rolling down his face.

"I think you're tired, how about you get some sleep, and you've clearly had a long day. Or few." The woman walked over to him and wiped away his tears.

"I need to find Igneel." His voice was broken.

"Igneel?" She gave him a confused look.

Natsu didn't want to answer, afraid that if he said a 'dragon' they, like everyone else had been, would think he was insane and the fact that he was obviously tired, would result in them giving a false pity. It'd only been a day and he was already sick of seeing that.

"He- he left me. Dad why did you leave me?" He started to cry again.

The woman looked at her husband with concern before looking back at the upset child, "Natsu I'm taking you to bed, you're tired."

Despite how much he wanted to find the dragon, he was too tired to protest. He went quiet again and followed her to what he assumed was their sons old room.

Natsu ended up staying longer than he planned, but as they reminded him every time he thought about leaving, where would he even go? He still never told them that Igneel was in fact a dragon or that he was in fact a mage. There wasn't really a need to tell them, as well as the fact that Natsu had heard a parent tell their child to stay away from mages. They would be jailed if caught using magic, never to be seen again.

"Who's the kid?" A customer looked over at Natsu as he handed the man the money for is fruit batch.

"His names Natsu. Caught him stealin some of my fruit a few days back. So he payin." The old man laughed.

The customer's expression turned solemn, "He aint from around here is he?"

"What gave it away?"

"Cause he's workin for you."

The old man laughed again, "What's wrong with that?" He knew what they meant though.

The customer laughed with him before muttering, "I hope he's worth a lot."

"He will be don't you worry." He handed him the fruit, "The foreign ones are always worth a lot."

Natsu's ear's pricked up at those words, there was no way he just got that lucky in a corrupted place like this. Of course he didn't. _Idiot._

Saying he's worth a lot could have meant anything. But the old man's response gave him the assurance he literally meant he'd be worth something, like jewels. Igneel had warned him about these people as he'd wandered off on his own before. He was quite a distance away and they were muttering so they defiantly thought he couldn't hear them. But he was a dragon slayer, it didn't matter if they were whispering a mile away, he would still be able to hear them. But they didn't know that.

"Where'd the last brat go?"

"Boscow I think, got 600,000 jewels for that girl. Probably a sex slave now earnin' double that." The old man's smile now held a sinister look to it.

"Oi Natsu, come help me pack up!"

As Natsu walked over, the customer walked past him.

"Damn shame" he heard him mutter.

With each step Natsu took towards the man his head was telling him to run in the opposite direction. But he knew it'd be pointless, night was drawing in fast. Not to mention that the old man chased after him to the other end of the city over an apple, who knows how far he'd go if Natsu just bolted here and now. He decided to wait until everyone was in bed asleep.

Night came quickly and before he knew it everyone was asleep. Natsu got dressed and made an attempt to get far away from this place as fast as he could. He was light on his feet however the stairs creaked even if it was a mouse walking down them, so he tried to just be quick more so than quiet.

But it didn't work out, the old man must have had plans tonight. He was awake.

"Why you up kid?"

"I uh, I wanted a drink." When it came down to it, Natsu wasn't a very good liar.

The old man saw he was fully dressed, "Let me get you one then." He led him into the kitchen, he decided to play along. He wasn't sure how Natsu had caught on, but it was evident he had, why else would he decide to leave so suddenly.

"O-okay." He sensed the man had tensed up, he could heart his heart beating faster. "Um, I wanted to ask."

He glanced over to a knife as he poured Natsu a cup of water. "What is it boy?"

Natsu knew what he was looking at, he couldn't even think about using such a thing, but he could already tell that the old man wouldn't hesitate.

"Why did you take me in?"

He turned and gave Natsu the cup, the boy accepted it, but didn't take a drink from it. He didn't see him do it, but Natsu could smell the herbs.

"Hmmm? You had to pay up somehow and you weren't like those poor folk outside on the streets." He smiled, but all Natsu saw in that smile was evil.

That evening his wife began to look the same. That concerned look she showed for him wasn't because she was worried for him, she was worried that someone would come looking for him.

Natsu took a step away from him, there was no point in acting at this point, like a snake ready to pounce on its prey the old man's muscles started to tense, whether it was panic or that he simply didn't care, he wasn't even being subtle as he edged closer to the knife.

"Whats wrong you two?" His wife came downstairs.

"Ah don't worry honey, Natsu just needed a drink."

"Why are you dressed?" Natsu didn't look at her, he remained fixated on the old man. At most she'd probably try to grab him, which he could handle. It was the knife he needed to worry about.

"I was cold." He tried to remain calm, but fear started to take over. He was terrified.

"Well come on Natsu drink up and get into bed." She edged closer behind him.

The old man was now next to the knife, all he had to do was pick it up, but he knew as soon as he'd do that it'd be the point of no return. He would much rather Natsu just drank up so he could still sell him. He'd had an offer of 2 million jewels, simply because of Natsu's tanned skin and unusual pink hair, making it evident he wasn't local. But he couldn't let Natsu get away, so as much as it pained him, if he had to, he'd kill him.

"Drink up boy." His voice became agitated.

Before he let her get close Natsu threw the glass cup at the old man which smashed on his face nearly taking out his eye. Natsu jolted forward to grab the knife before she grabbed him.

"You little fucker!" He wailed trying to pull the glass from out of the side of his face. The herbs made it hurt more as it seeped into his wounds.

The woman went to grab Natsu, "Come here you lil' shit."

Natsu quickly turned around and before he could react, as though on instinct, the knife went through her chest. He didn't know how to react. There was suddenly so much blood. The knife must have gone through her heart as she died within seconds, he'd killed her.

"You fuck! Imma kill you now boy!" The old man kicked him onto the ground, he kicked him again so hard it winded Natsu, who began gasping for air. Eventually he grabbed him by the throat, "You fucker. You fucker! You killed my wife!" He began to punch Natsu as hard as he could. He was surprised Natsu was still conscious at the point, usually they weren't. Some kids would have even died by now.

Natsu managed to get enough breath back, he was in a lot of pain. However adrenalin must have kicked in as he managed to move his leg and enchant it in flames, kicking the old man as hard as he could.

The man stumbled backwards, completely losing his balance, "A mage? Oh damn, you would be worth so much more than 2 million now!" He tried to regain composure.

This would have been the perfect chance for Natsu to run, but he didn't. It was like something else had taken control of his body as he walked up to the broken man.

"Heh can't say I like that look in yer eyes kiddo." Despite his calm look, the old man was suddenly terrified.

This wasn't a child.

"Stop smiling." Natsu's smile made him tense up. "Stop it! Stop smiling you brat! Why are you smiling?!" He couldn't move, fear has taken control of his body. There was something about the child's smile that gave off an unsettling sensation.

Natsu reached out and put his left hand on top of the old man's head.

"He-hey what are you doing?" He was going to die, "Stop smiling." He knew it was over.

This was a demon.

Natsu suddenly produced fire from his left hand, setting the man on fire. He walked away, stepping over the woman's corpse, which despite being dead, was twitching slightly.

As he left the house all he could hear was the man wailing out in pain. A few meters away and he saw some of the military and neighbours had arrived. Arguments happened regularly in homes around here and people always ignored them. They never took murder seriously either, which is why it wasn't until the house was burning that people eventually pretended to care.

Natsu eventually ran out of the city, quickly allowing himself to forget what happened and simply turned a lie that he'd successfully snuck out into a false truth. A few days had gone by and Natsu's goal of finding Igneel started to fade as he simply drifted around towns and villages, stealing food and sleeping by a small fire he'd make, not for warmth but for light, as the darkness unsettled him. He'd completely lost himself, not just literally but mentally too, and he began to feel very little emotion.

It wasn't long before he'd entered a small town and for the first time since being in Sin he'd actually got caught from stealing a bread roll. He was tired however and he didn't get very far before collapsing in front of a cloaked man who smiled down at him.

"Let me pay for that." His voice was loud.

"He still stole it! You gonna do something bout that?" The angry woman asked.

"He's just a brat who's clearly sick. I'll pay for that and deal with him." He gave her the money and picked up the half-awake Natsu. "You look like you've been through hell kid." He mumbled not expecting a response from him.

Natsu jolted up and saw he was on a sofa, opposite him was the cloaked man who clearly brought him here.

"You're awake sooner than I thought. Those wounds look pretty bad kiddo, you've only been out a few hours." He took a sip from his glass of whiskey, the smell of it made Natsu nauseous.

"Where am I?" He looked around the room.

"Just some town. You should rest." He walked over to him to get a closer look at Natsu's wounds, they looked bad, but they were nearly healed. "What happened to you?"

"I- I got into a fight." He lied, he couldn't actually remember, he'd drifted for so long he hadn't even though about how he got them.

"Hmm?" The fact that Natsu wasn't sure was evident to him. It was obvious he'd gotten into a fight of some sort, but as to why or who with was unknown. Other than the fact that the extent showed that it was an adult, which angered him. He got up and walked to the sink and pour Natsu a glass of milk, "who the hell beats a kid?" he muttered to himself. Natsu ignored him.

"Why did you help me?" Natsu hesitantly took the glass from him. He'd run into a few instances over the past week where what he was given, was not was the same as what it really was. It smelt like milk so he took a sip.

"Cause you looked like you needed it." He grinned. "Where are your parent's?"

 _Parents?_ Nobody had ever been so specific before, he didn't know how to answer that question. Igneel was his dad, obviously not by blood, but he was more of a parent to him that whoever his actual parents were.

His smile faded, he didn't need an answer, they weren't here that's all he needed to know. "Anyone lookin for ya?"

"I don't know." Natsu curled up in a ball and hid away his face, showing how lost he truly was. "Igneel." He mumbled. It was the first time in days he'd actually thought about it, it hurt to think about it.

"Hmm?" He glanced over to him.

Natsu panicked when he realized he'd said the dragons name out loud, he didn't ask anyone anymore, as everyone he did ask would say he was crazy or pity him.

"N-nothing."

"You looking for them?"

"Yeah."

"Let me help." He took another sip from his whiskey.

"Why?"

"Cause it's my job kid. What's your name?"

"Natsu."

He could tell from the look of him that Natsu was a mage, only a kid who could use strong magic would be able to survive this long on their own.

He smiled, "What sort of magic do you use?"

"Eh?" Natsu for the first time looked up at him, "How did you-"

"Cause I'm good at my job. So you're a mage then."

It was strange, Natsu had only just met this person and he already felt at ease around him. It was comforting.

"I uh. I use fire magic." He stumbled his words, it was the first time in a while that someone showed an interest in him.

"That's pretty impressive." He gave a toothy grin. "What sort?"

"Um- I uh." He wasn't sure whether to say it or not, in fear that it would meet an equal conclusion as to whenever he'd state he was looking for a dragon.

"You're afraid I won't believe you." Saying you were a mage outside of Fiore was rare, so it was natural to him that the kid might hesitate to talk about it.

"I guess."

"I'll believe you. If it's any comfort I'm a mage."

Natsu's gave a small smile, "heh so you can smile." He was happy that the child felt at ease, for what was probably the first time in a while. God knows what hell he'd been through before they'd met.

"I'm a fire dragon slayer." His smile quickly disappeared, as he was worried the statement would be met with rejection. But when he looked to the man he looked happy.

He laughed, "That's pretty impressive for a kid. I guess Igneel taught you eh?"

Natsu was stunned by the response, "Eh? You- You believe me?"

"Shouldn't I?"

"I- I don't know. No one believes me." He could feel the tears swelling up.

"What does Igneel look like?" He sat beside him.

"He- he's a red dragon." Natsu mumbled.

"Eh?! Really!" He seemed legitimately surprised which surprised Natsu.

"You're mocking me."

"Why? Because everyone else has." He frowned, "I mean, no one has seen a dragon in four hundred years, so most are gonna be sceptical. But that don't mean it's impossible." He ruffled Natsu's hair.

"So you do believe me."

"Yeah I do. Heh, you're really somethin Natsu. You should come with me."

"Go where?"

"To Fairy Tail."

It was Gildarts he was with before coming across the old man and eventually ending up at the guild. He wasn't sure as to why he'd forgotten that, but a part of him was happy he'd remembered. After Igneel disappeared, meeting Gildarts was the first good memory he had.

Now Natsu was here, in the city of Sin, alone. He had no idea why he was here, but he wanted to make his way back to magnolia before something serious happened.

"Tried to run away did we?" A voice crept up behind him.

As though on a subconscious instinct, the streets a subtly cleared away.

"There isn't anywhere for you to run, son of Igneel."

Natsu's eyes widened, he didn't dare turn around. The street were completely empty, it was now just Natsu and the source of the voice that he'd come to know and fear.

It was the voice of the dragon king Acnologia.


	19. Goodbye Fairy Tail

(My post on tumblr)

Fairy Tail ending (spoilers about last chapter)

I wouldn't do a commentary really but this manga has been with me for 4 years now. Seeing Hiro's art grow has inspired me so I feel like I need to do this.

Just to start off, I've not read the chapter yet, I was going to avoid spoilers (but just like how i still havent started my final chapter of my ft fic and at this rate never will) i looked.

\- So Hiro has said he has future plans for ft in mind so I do hope it is continuing but for whatever reason fairy tail, the fairy tail we've come to know has come to a close. I hope the future doesnt have it like a next gen like naruto because honestly I feel like there's so much lore with the fairy tail universe I wouldn't even be mad that we got a completely different setup (like sabertooth or even 400 years earlier) I mean I'm not even convinced that Ivan's set up was just 'that' and we never really went into the whole 13th gate key thing. Although if that's what we get, then I a okay with that. So who knows.

-Now the chapter. Again I've not read it yet so this wont go into much, but I'm honestly happy its 'open-ended'. For one, Natsu has never been the character the think too deeply into things, so not actually getting a direct confirmation on the whole NaLu is totally okay with me. I mean I just took it as things came tbh, I never read it for the 'ships' (but most do which is why I haven't really involved myself in the fandom much becaue its ONLY become about the ships)

-Finally, yes, there's been flaws. But nothing is perfect and I did feel for a while that Hiro had written himself into a corner because he wanted to stay within a certain narrative/genre (there were so many dark potential but I respect why he didn't go there) This open ending seems like a great idea and I really wish people would stop comparing this manga to other mangas. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME! Fairy Tail is Fairy Tail. It may have has influences, but hasn't everything? This has been a long journy Hiro has taken us all on, I personally have enjoyed it, it showed up in my darkest moment and made me smile and laugh and I can't wait to see what adventure Hiro gives us next.

I've read the chapter now. I'm going to say it again

Thankyou Hiro for this long adventure, I can't wait to see what the next adventure is.

The chapter was beautiful, there was no forced canonity like there sometimes is and that made me happy, this was and always has been about friendship, so I likes Natsu's open statement, I liked that Jerza wasn't set in stone, because it was driectly Lucy's persepective. Lucy closed this tale for us and that made me smile, because she opened this story, shes narrated and she's closed it.I cried, which I haven't done with a manga ending before, but I think its because the chapter was fantastic and I've truly felt like I've been a part of the adventure.

So again, thankyou Hiro.

chilledcat


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